Donald Trump to nominate regulation critic Scott Pruitt to lead Environmental Protection Agency

Extract from ABC News

Updated about an hour ago

Photo: Scott Pruitt has been a staunch critic of the agency is he now poised to head. (AP: Andrew Harnik)

Related Story: Jill Stein's Michigan recount halted by federal judge

Related Story: Delegates hopeful Trump presidency won't derail Paris climate agreement

US President-elect Donald Trump will nominate Oklahoma attorney-general Scott Pruitt, a critic of federal environmental regulation, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), his transition team said.

Key points:

• Trump says the EPA has long-spent too much money on "anti-energy agenda"
• Pruitt, a fossil fuel defender, has launched multiple lawsuits against the EPA
• Democrats slam Pruitt as "a stenographer for pollution lobbyists"

The choice, which enraged environmental activists and cheered the oil industry, signals that the Republican plans to move ahead with his promise to cut back regulation and free up drilling and coal mining, in a likely reversal of Democratic President Barack Obama's environmental agenda.
"For too long, the Environmental Protection Agency has spent taxpayer dollars on an out-of-control anti-energy agenda that has destroyed millions of jobs, while also undermining our incredible farmers and many other businesses and industries at every turn," Mr Trump was quoted as saying in a statement from the transition team.
Mr Pruitt has been a harsh opponent of Mr Obama's measures to curb climate change and has helped lead a legal effort by some states to throw out an integral piece of Mr Obama's climate change strategy that requires states to curb carbon output.
Since becoming the top prosecutor for the oil- and gas-producing state in 2011, Mr Pruitt, 48, has launched multiple lawsuits against regulations put forward by the agency he is now poised to lead, suing to block federal measures to reduce smog and curb toxic emissions from power plants.
"The American people are tired of seeing billions of dollars drained from our economy due to unnecessary EPA regulations, and I intend to run this agency in a way that fosters both responsible protection of the environment and freedom for American businesses," Mr Pruitt was quoted as saying.
The transition team statement called Mr Pruitt "a national leader against the EPA's job-killing war on coal" who will help implement Mr Trump's energy plan.

Pruitt nomination 'sad and dangerous': Sanders

Mr Pruitt's selection came despite a softer tone Mr Trump has struck on environmental regulation since his November 8 election.
He has stepped back from casting climate change as a hoax, signalled he might be willing to allow the United States to continue participating in the Paris climate change deal aimed at lowering world carbon emissions, and met with former vice-president Al Gore, a leading environmental voice.
Mr Pruitt's selection brought a quick rebuke from Democrats, including former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
Mr Sanders added that Mr Pruitt had actively worked in the past "to make us more dependent on fossil fuels".
Meanwhile, House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said "the head of the EPA cannot be a stenographer for the lobbyists of polluters and Big Oil", in reference to Mr Pruitt.
Mr Trump's campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, brushed off the criticism, praising Mr Pruitt's record and telling reporters at Trump Tower: "We're very accustomed to the naysayers and the critics."
Reuters