Scott Pruitt was confirmed as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Friday, Feb. 17.
The Senate voted 52-46 to confirm Pruitt, who previously served as Oklahoma attorney general.
“I look forward to working with the dedicated employees on our shared vision to protect our environment for future generations,” Pruitt wrote on his new Twitter account last week after taking office.
Agricultural groups welcomed Pruitt’s confirmation.
“Scott Pruitt’s confirmation to lead the Environmental Protection Agency will bring a breath of fresh air to the post. America’s farmers and ranchers look forward to working with Administrator Pruitt as he leads the EPA with a welcome level of common sense in the important job of protecting the environment,” American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said. “For too long, farmers and ranchers have been victims of EPA’s harsh regulatory overreach. Farmers are conservationists to the core and we want to play a positive, cooperative role in protecting the environment we rely on to produce food for this nation.
As Oklahoma attorney general, Pruitt was active in legally challenging EPA’s controversial Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule.
“In his position as attorney general in Oklahoma, Pruitt stood up for common-sense, effective regulation that protects the environment and the rights of the regulated community,” Duvall said. “We’re optimistic that he will retain those same values as administrator and we look forward to working with him. But what we truly look forward to is working with someone at EPA who understands how farmers and ranchers care for our nation’s natural resources each and every day.”
EPA is currently in the midst of several registration reviews, including atrazine and glyphosate.
How many Sligo EPA folks actively campaigned Against him?
We finally have someone to head the EPA with common sense. We might have a glimmer of hope after going through the last horrific 8 years.
One of the big issues I would like to see is the termination of requiring ethanol in our gasoline. It is not cost effective as it takes 2 gallons of fossil fuel to make one gallon of ethanol and in addition destroying our engines as well as undue repairs. “Ethanol” is one of the biggest BOONDOGLE this country has done in recent memory.
In other words, those of us in large cities better get on with developing our urban gardens because the food produced in rural America is going to be toxic from all the excess chemicals. Good going, Scott Pruit and his apologists at the American Farm Bureau!
Has it ever occurred to you guys that A) if you kill off your consumers, you won’t be selling much of anything, and B) the more toxic food becomes, the more people are going to be looking for a ways around large scale agricultural options?
But if you are happy to put yourselves out of business for short term gains, I guess that is your right.
I also find it incredibly ironic that you would be cheering a climate change denier while simultaneously being excited about pesticides. You completely trust chemicals invented by scientists without reservations, but when the majority of scientists say the planet is screwed if we don’t get our act together on various forms of man made pollution it’s a conspiracy of those evil scientists.
All I can say is the FarmBot Genesis project is looking more and more compelling each day.