Waterkeeper Alliance Responds to Scott Pruitt’s Confirmation as EPA Administrator

February 17, 2017

Today, the U.S. Senate confirmed Scott Pruitt as Administrator of the U.S. EPA — an agency he has sued 14 times in the past 6 years to block its vital efforts to protect our public health and environment. Polluting industries across the country are celebrating today while our children and grandchildren will pay an enormous health and quality of life price for this unconscionable decision.

Waterkeeper Alliance Executive Director Marc Yaggi said:

“Waterkeeper Alliance is incredibly disappointed in the appointment of Scott Pruitt as EPA Administrator.  As Oklahoma Attorney General, Scott Pruitt did nothing to protect the environment and health of Oklahomans. It is guaranteed that as EPA Administrator, Pruitt will put the protection of polluters over people, and put our essential environmental protections on the chopping block. He owes his political success to enormous campaign contributions from corporate polluters and continues to keep thousands of conversations with Big Oil a secret. He has not taken a single legal action to enforce Oklahoma’s stringent water quality laws and protect the public from nitrate pollution by swine CAFOs. If Scott Pruitt thinks he has the green light to eviscerate our environmental protections, we want him to know there are Waterkeepers across the country ready to make sure he doesn’t get away with it. Waterkeeper Alliance and more than 150 U.S. Waterkeeper Organizations and Affiliates are ready for a fight. We will not allow him to gut EPA and put our waterways and the health of Americans at risk.”