President-elect Donald J. Trump has appointed E. Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma’s attorney general, as the next US Environmental Protection Agency administrator. He was one of 27 states’ AGs who sued in federal court earlier in 2016 to overturn the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan.
“This administration continues to treat states as mere vessels of federal will, abusing and disrespecting the vertical separation of powers defined by our Constitution,” Pruitt, who is a Republican, said outside US District Court for Washington, DC, on Sept. 27 where the case was being argued.
“That is why attorneys general, senators, and congressmen from across the country have joined together to maintain rule of law and checks and balances in this very process. I am committed to ensuring the ultimate payer in this matter is not overlooked—the consumers,” he said.
Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association Chairman Jeffrey McDougall, president and principal owner of Oklahoma City’s JMA Energy Co., applauded the Dec. 7 appointment. “For the past 8 years, we’ve seen executive overreach put increased, unnecessary, and burdensome regulations in place to the detriment of not just Oklahoma’s oil and gas industry, but industries across the state and nation,” he said.
Another Oklahoman, Continental Resources Chief Executive Harold G. Hamm, was an advisor during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and is said to be among those being considered to be US Secretary of Energy in the next administration.
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