Oklahoma AG Scott Pruitt Confirmed As EPA Administrator

The U.S. Senate confirmed Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as EPA administrator Friday.

He was approved by a vote of 52-46.

Pruitt served six years as Oklahoma's attorney general and was closely aligned with oil and gas companies in his home state, whose executives backed his political campaigns. He filed 14 lawsuits as attorney general challenging EPA regulations, including President Barack Obama's plan to limit planet-warming carbon emissions.

Pruitt’s nomination was strongly opposed by environmental groups and hundreds of former EPA employees, who predicted he will roll back the agency’s environmental enforcement efforts.

Oklahoma Senator James Lankford praised Friday's vote.

"Scott Pruitt will be an outstanding Administrator of the EPA. Rather than twist environmental laws to invent new powers for the EPA, Scott will enforce existing law and ensure that we protect the environment, and also protect family budgets. The federal government must improve efficiencies across agencies, especially the agency that ensures clean air, clean drinking water, and a healthy environment. Scott will do this job well, and I look forward to continuing our work together for the future of the nation as he leads the EPA."

Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe says he looks forward to working with Pruitt in his new role.

“Scott Pruitt is highly qualified, principled man, and will make an exceptional EPA Administrator. I have known Scott for many years and have been privileged to work with him in his role as Oklahoma Attorney General. He understands the need for balance – something the EPA has been lacking for far too long as evidenced by the federal overreach, unlawful rule making, and duplicative red tape under the last administration. Pruitt will restore balance to the agency by simply upholding the laws passed by Congress, nothing more and nothing less. I have no doubt that Scott will return the EPA to its core objectives as a regulatory agency, prioritizing the environment without harming state and private interests. I look forward to working with Scott in his new role and am pleased the Senate has voted to confirm him.” 

During his Senate confirmation hearing last month, Pruitt said he disagreed with Trump’s past statements that global warming is a hoax. However, Pruitt has previously cast doubt on the extensive body of scientific evidence showing that the planet is warming and man-made carbon emissions are to blame.

Though Pruitt ran unopposed for a second term in 2014, public campaign finance reports show he raised more than $700,000, much of it from people in the energy and utility industries.

President and CEO of the Tulsa Regional Chamber Mike Neal statement:

“We at the Tulsa Regional Chamber are excited and proud to have a Tulsa-area leader in Washington heading up the Environmental Protection Agency. Scott Pruitt has dedicated years in service to Oklahoma, both as a state senator and more recently as our attorney general. We are confident he will bring an eye for, and an understanding of, our region and our state to the Washington arena."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.