Statement of Lisa Pohlmann, Executive Director, Natural Resources Council of Maine
We are deeply dismayed that the U.S. Senate has voted to confirm Scott Pruitt as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. This is bad news for Maine, because we depend on clean air, clean water, and a healthy environment as a foundation of our economy.
Scott Pruitt is hostile toward the mission of EPA and has spent much of his career suing the EPA to block clean air and clean water standards that protect the health of Maine people and all Americans.
We appreciate the votes by Senators Collins and King to oppose Scott Pruitt and stand up for Maine’s environment. But their votes weren’t sufficient to block this terrible and inappropriate choice for an agency that has played such an important role in cleaning up Maine’s rivers, reducing life-threatening air pollution, and curbing toxic pollution.
Today’s vote should have been delayed until after thousands of emails between Pruitt and the oil industry were released next week. An Oklahoma Judge ordered the release of this information by next Tuesday. A short delay would have given Senators the information they deserved to understand the extent of Mr. Pruitt’s ties with polluting industries.
But even without that information, the Senate should have voted against Mr. Pruitt. Now more than ever, Maine people will look to Senators Collins and King to defend Maine from the anti-environment agenda that has been Mr. Pruitt’s hallmark.
