February 17, 2017
Just ahead of a confirmation vote in the Senate, an Oklahoma County judge ordered state Attorney General Scott Pruitt on Thursday to turn over thousands of documents sought for more than two years by a Wisconsin-based media watchdog group.
Pruitt is President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Center for Media and Democracy is seeking documents related to Pruitt’s communication with energy companies. Pruitt has sued the EPA numerous times to try to overturn Obama administration regulations.
“You just can’t sit on them for two years,” Oklahoma County District Judge Aletia Haynes Timmons told Pruitt’s attorneys during a hearing Thursday.
The court order came just one day before Pruitt is up for a Senate confirmation vote on his EPA nomination, according to a tweet Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., made Thursday. The Center for Media and Democracy also reported that the vote is to take place Friday.
The mission of the Environmental Protection Agency is “to protect human health and the environment.” Disgraced EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt tried his best to undermine this vital mission by choosing to slash critical health protections and let corporate polluters off the hook. Now that Pruitt’s been booted, we need an EPA administrator dedicated to undoing his toxic agenda and restoring the agency to its core mission. Progress is possible and necessary – but another corporate crony or climate skeptic will not get us there.
Scott Pruitt is gone, but the fight is just beginning. We need an EPA administrator who puts our health and environment first, period. Any alternative is unacceptable.
