New Blog Post: A Close Look at the Pruitt Confirmation Hearing
WASHINGTON—Today Resources for the Future (RFF) Senior Fellow Alan Krupnick posted a blog offering several key observations about the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee's confirmation hearings yesterday on Scott Pruitt's nomination by President-elect Donald Trump to become administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
In the new post, “How Pruitt’s Hearing Illuminated His View of His Role as EPA Administrator”, Krupnick lends insight to four general principles that Pruitt espoused throughout his hearing:
- Being pro-energy does not mean that one is anti-environment.
- Cooperative federalism emphasizes partnership, not devolution.
- Actions will be guided by the rule of law.
- A climate change position was offered that seemed to have evolved.
For example, part of Krupnick's analysis on the topic of the EPA nominee's climate-change position includes: “Pruitt's testimony, along with [Interior Secretary Nominee Ryan] Zinke's the day before, evidenced the Trump administration's emerging public stance toward climate change science: It's not an outright hoax but its magnitude is still uncertain enough to make actions to reduce GHG emissions unwarranted. Yet, for the EPA administrator, as Pruitt acknowledges, there is an obligation to regulate GHGs as a pollutant. How this contradiction will actually play out is unclear.”
For further analysis, read the full post: How Pruitt’s Hearing Illuminated His View of His Role as EPA Administrator.
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