Donald Trump’s nomination of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is a breath of fresh air for West Virginia.
Pruitt will bring a reasoned and balanced approach back to a power-hungry agency run amok under the Obama administration.
It is no secret that the coal industry has been brought nearly to its knees due, in large part, to the job-killing regulations forced on the country by President Barack Obama’s EPA.
These ideologically driven policies, such as the so-called Clean Power Plan and the ozone rule, have made it nearly impossible for power plants to continue to burn and/or plan to burn coal in the United States as well as for mines to operate in West Virginia.
America has lost approximately 83,000 coal jobs, 400 coal mines and 246 coal-fired power plants since Obama took office. These are partially the results of a rogue agency imposing an extreme ideology on the American people.
And for what?
According to the United Nations, if the U.S. stopped using coal, it would only reduce the global carbon emissions by two tenths of one percent. The reality is we had to endure all of this economic harm just so Obama could tout his anti-fossil fuel activist agenda to the rest of the world.
Fortunately, in November, the American people resoundingly rejected these policies and supported Donald Trump because they were fed up. They connected the dots and concluded that excessive federal regulations have painful repercussions and were costing them their livelihoods. Donald Trump promised to put the coal miners back to work, and tapping Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt for EPA Administrator is a good first step.
Scott Pruitt understands what the people in West Virginia are going through. In Oklahoma he witnessed the real-world consequences of the agency’s unconstitutional overreach — job loss, higher taxes and higher utility bills — and he has been a leader, working to restore the EPA to its original, lawful mission.
Pruitt has tirelessly fought against EPA encroachments and established Oklahoma’s first “federalism unit” to combat unwarranted regulation and federal government abuse.
Pruitt was among officials from 24 different states, including West Virginia, who called upon the administration to withdraw its carbon rules, filing a suit challenging their constitutionality.
Unlike the current administration, he fully supports the use of all energy sources, including coal and natural gas. Pruitt believes we must unleash America’s energy potential in order to create jobs and bring new wealth to the American people, which can be achieved without compromising our environmental quality.
Pruitt is a reformer who will bring a reasoned and balanced approach back to the EPA. Pruitt believes — and has said in testimony to Congress — that the EPA is an important agency that plays a vital role in protecting our environment.
He will usher in an era of responsible stewardship, taking into account true costs and benefits of various approaches to environmental regulation. He will offer realistic and scientifically achievable solutions that will continue to safeguard our air, land and water resources without hindering our nation’s economy and punishing our workforce.
As vice chairman of U.S. House Energy & Commerce’s Subcommittee on Environment and chairman of the Congressional Coal Caucus, I look forward to working with Mr. Pruitt to achieve these goals.
Until West Virginia further diversifies its economy, our families are counting on him to be successful.
U.S. Representative David B. McKinley, P.E. represents West Virginia’s first Congressional district.
