Twenty-four state Attorneys General (including Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge) authored a January 4th letter to United States Senators John Barrasso and Tom Carper supporting the nomination of Oklahoma Attorney General E. Scott Pruitt as Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Senators Barrasso and Carper are, respectively, Chairman and Ranking Minority Member of the United States Senate Environment Public Works Committee.
By way of introduction, the Attorneys General state in the letter that:
. . .we understand the need to work collaboratively to address threats to our environment that cross state lines, as well as the importance of a federal counterpart in the EPA Administrator who possesses the knowledge, experience, and principles to work with our states to address issues affecting our environment. We believe that no one exemplifies these qualities more than Scott Pruitt.
In discussing Mr. Pruitt’s prior experience in the environmental area they include a reference to the State of Arkansas and the issues that have arisen with the Illinois River, noting:
. . . He negotiated a historic water rights settlement with Indian tribes that preserved the ecosystems of scenic lakes and rivers; he worked with his Democrat counterpart in Arkansas to reduce pollution in the Illinois River; and he represented the interests of Oklahoma in rate cases against utility companies and in numerous actions against those who contaminate his state’s air and water.
The letter states that Mr. Pruitt believes that “environmental regulations should be driven by State and local governments -- a notion endorsed by Congress in the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act.”
A copy of the letter can be downloaded here.
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