EPA nominee vows to restore state power

WASHINGTON—Scott Pruitt, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), pledged during a confirmation hearing on Wednesday to restore power to the states while balancing environmental and economic concerns.

“My first and primary goal as administrator will be to return the agency to that core mission of protecting the American people through common sense and lawful regulations,” Pruitt, Oklahoma’s attorney general, said in his opening statement to members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “Environmental regulations should not occur in an economic vacuum.”

Pruitt told lawmakers the EPA overreached its authority under the Obama administration, dictated matters that should be left to state control, and failed to conduct cost-benefit analyses of its actions. If confirmed, Pruitt said he would implement a system of “cooperative federalism” that would include regulatory input from all stakeholders.

“The states are not simply vessels of federal will,” Pruitt argued, saying the EPA’s lack of respect for states has resulted in a spate of lawsuits.

In six years as attorney general, Pruitt has filed suit against the EPA numerous times, including joining 31 other states in suing to stop implementation of the Waters of the United States rule.

Pruitt faced tough questions from Democrats, who called him a tool of the energy industry not the citizens of his state. Pruitt cited multiple lawsuits against energy companies, including Exxon Mobil, but Democrats dismissed them as mostly fraud investigations, not environment matters.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., expressed concern over Pruitt’s desire to scale back EPA power because Rhode Island is unable to address out-of-state smoke stacks.

“We have air problems,” Whitehouse said. “Your passion for devolving power down to states doesn’t help us, because [the pollution] is not coming from our state.”

Pruitt said the EPA has a valuable role to play to ensure clean water and air but it should primarily focus on enforcing laws Congress has passed.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V., described a different kind of problem in her state: widespread loss of jobs due to EPA coal regulations. She said many of the 60,000 jobs lost in the coal industry in recent years came from her state, throwing parts of West Virginia into an economic depression.

“We’re in a desperate situation in our state,” Capito said, noting the EPA is required by law to evaluate the economic impact of its actions. “For the last eight years the EPA has given no indication that anybody cares.”

Other Republicans cited constituent complaints as evidence the EPA needs reform and expressed confidence in Pruitt’s ability to do it.

“Folks are frustrated with the ‘gotcha’ attitude of the EPA,” said Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. “My constituents feel the EPA is out to get them.”

Democrats called on Pruitt to recuse himself from the eight pending cases he has against the EPA, but he said he would defer to the agency’s ethics counsel. Democrats also pressed him on whether climate change is real and what role humans play in it.

“I do not think climate change is a hoax,” Pruitt said, adding that he’s not sure to what extent humans are responsible.

When Pruitt declined to blame hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for the increase in earthquakes in Oklahoma, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said he would not vote to confirm him.

Pruitt is unlikely to receive much support from Democrats, who identified him as a prime target among Trump’s nominees. But with 52 Senate seats, Republicans can confirm him on a party-line vote.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., who is not on the committee, introduced Pruitt at the hearing and endorsed him as a fellow Southern Baptist and a statesman.

“I’ve prayed with Scott, I’ve seen Scott struggle with hard decisions, and I’ve seen Scott listen to people from all sides,” said Lankford, who noted Pruitt is a deacon at First Baptist Church in Broken Bow, Okla. (Pruitt also sits on the board of trustees for the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.)

Many environmental groups have publicly opposed Pruitt, but the conservative Cornwall Alliance released an open letter from more than 100 scientists, religious leaders, and academics who support him.

“As a committed evangelical Christian, Mr. Pruitt has an unbending commitment to human life and health, especially to the protection of the most vulnerable in society,” they wrote.