Hoyer Statement on the Nomination of Scott Pruitt to Lead the Environmental Protection Agency

WASHINGTON, DC – House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today after President-Elect Trump announced his intention to nominate Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency: 

“I am deeply disappointed in President-Elect Trump’s choice to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.  Scott Pruitt has spent the past several years fighting tooth and nail to help polluters erase or circumvent the critical environmental protections our nation has put in place.  To put him in charge of the very agency he has worked to undermine is an affront to all Americans who care about the health of our air and water and the very real threat we face from climate change.  

“The very strong and immediate response from respected clean air and water organizations and public health advocates should surprise no one, given how much Mr. Pruitt’s record makes him unsuited to the task for which the EPA Administrator is primarily responsible: protecting our children and grandchildren from the environmental damage being incurred in our day.  The American people – and the generations of Americans yet to come – deserve better.”