February 08, 2017
By Randy Krenbiel –
A liberal-leaning watchdog group sued Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt on Tuesday alleging violation of the state Open Records Act.
Pruitt spokesman Lincoln Ferguson called the lawsuit “political theater” — a phrase used by Republican U.S. senators who are trying to confirm Pruitt as head of the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Oklahoma County lawsuit by the Wisconsin-based Center for Media and Democracy alleges that Pruitt and his office have not responded to open records requests that are as much as two years old.
“General Pruitt has had two years to respond to a lawful request for documents from his office,” said Ryan Kiesel, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma. “Instead of complying, he has stonewalled public interest groups, the U.S. Senate and the American people,” said Kiesel, who is acting as co-counsel in the suit.
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.
