WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Jack Reed today announced that he will vote against the nomination of Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  In advance of the vote by the full U.S. Senate, Reed issued the following statement:

“Scott Pruitt is a troubling choice to lead the Environmental Protection Agency and I strongly oppose his nomination. 

“President Trump has made it clear that environmental protection is not among his priorities.  By nominating Mr. Pruitt, the President selected someone with financial ties to the oil and gas industry who doubts climate science and imperils our environment.

“Respected voices across the political spectrum find Mr. Pruitt’s nomination distressing.  Former President George W. Bush’s EPA Administrator, Christine Todd Whitman, who led the agency from 2001 to 2003, spoke out against this nomination, stating: “I don’t recall ever having seen an appointment of someone who is so disdainful of the agency and the science behind what the agency does.”

And non-partisan groups who have worked across the aisle to protect our environment and wildlife have widely panned this pick.  For the first time in its 80-year history, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is opposing the nomination of a Presidential cabinet appointee because Scott Pruitt is so extreme.  Their CEO, Collin O’Mara, noted that Scott Pruitt “has sought to undermine climate science and questioned whether mercury pollution was bad for public health.  He has repeatedly used the power of his office to fight to overturn the water and air safeguards that protect our fish and wildlife, public health, natural resources, and climate.  He sued to stop the EPA from reducing water pollution entering upstream tributaries and wetlands. He sued to stop rules to reduce toxic mercury pollution, oxides of nitrogen, and sulfur dioxide, and sued to block the Clean Power Plan.”

“That is a stunning indictment from a group that has proudly supported every previous nominee from either party.

“In picking Scott Pruitt, President Trump thinks he is hurting the environmental community and helping big business.  But in reality, he is putting the interests of  polluters ahead of public health and harming our nation's long-term economic well-being.

“President Trump may not have a deep connection to the great outdoors, but the American people do.  They deserve better.  They deserve leaders who value clean water and fresh air, and understand the importance of conservation and environmental protection. Scott Pruitt is not that leader. He‎ has spent his career undermining ‎the agency he is now nominated to lead and I cannot in good conscience support his nomination.”