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Former EPA employees oppose administrator nominee

Former EPA employees are urging the Senate to reject Scott Pruitt as the next administrator.

Almost 450 past employees of the agency sent a letter to Senate members saying they’re concerned about the Oklahoma Attorney General and his qualifications to enforce environmental law.

The employees say Pruitt has shown no interest in enforcing environmental laws and has gone to great lengths to advance the interests of businesses in energy, oil and gas. They say Pruitt has suggested the EPA should refrain from controlling pollution that crosses state lines.

The employees are also concerned about Pruitt’s stance on climate change despite scientific consensus.

The Environmental Integrity Project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog group, collected the signatures.

Republican members of the Senate Environment and Public Works committee suspended committee rules and voted unanimously to approve Pruitt as the head of the EPA after a Democratic boycott of the vote last week.

The American Farm Bureau Federation along with the American Coalition for Ethanol, American Dairy Coalition, and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association are among the ag groups that support Pruitt’s nomination.