Letter Opposing Nomination of Scott Pruitt as EPA Administrator from 234 Organizations

February 15, 2017

Dear Senator:

On behalf of our millions of members and activists, we urge you to stand up for clean air, clean water, healthy communities and a safe climate by insisting that the Environmental Protection Agency must be headed by an individual who is qualified for the office and dedicated to these values.

President-elect Trump’s nominee to head the EPA, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, has actively worked against the mission of the agency he has been nominated to lead and he should be rejected by the Senate.

Mr. Pruitt has repeatedly sued the EPA to block clean air and clean water standards that will protect the health and well-being of millions of Americans.

For example, he has sued the EPA to overturn standards to curb mercury and other toxic air pollutantsthat will prevent up to 11,000 premature deaths and 130,000 asthma attacks per year. He has sued to void standards to reduce soot and smog pollution projected to prevent up to 15,000 non-fatal heart attacks, 34,000 premature deaths, and 400,000 asthma attacks every year. These lawsuits are bad news for all Americans, but especially the more than 24 million Americans with asthma.

Mr. Pruitt denies the overwhelming scientific consensus that climate change is real and is driven by human-made air pollution. He sued unsuccessfully to overturn the EPA’s scientific endangerment determination that carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping air pollutants are harmful. And he has sued to block the EPA from setting any limits on carbon pollution from power plants, the nation’s largest polluter.

Mr. Pruitt has repeatedly argued that EPA should have little or no role in protecting Americans’ health and well-being from air and water pollution. Thus, he apparently rejects fundamental provisions of the Clean Air Act that require the EPA to set national public health standards–standards that guarantee protection to all Americans, regardless of where they live, and protect states from a “race to the bottom” in which they are pressured to compete for industry by offering lax health and environmental standards.

Mr. Pruitt has sued the EPA to overturn clean water safeguards for more than half the nation’s waterways, including streams that feed into the drinking water supplies of 117 million Americans. He even sued to block limits on water pollution into the Chesapeake Bay, which has no known connection to Oklahoma.

There is a long bipartisan history in this country of supporting clean air, clean water and a healthy environment. The American public did not vote for more air and water pollution, for more pesticides in our foods or for more toxic chemicals in toys. The American people did not vote to put the EPA in the hands of someone who has recklessly worked against its mission to protect Americans’ health and the natural environment.

Scott Pruitt’s views and actions run counter to the EPA’s critical mission to protect our health and the environment. This makes him unfit to administer the laws he would be entrusted to enforce. The Senate should reject his nomination.

Sincerely,

350.org
350PDX
Air Alliance Houston
Alaska Community Action on Toxics
Alaska Wilderness League
Alliance for Citizenship
Alliance for Democracy
Alliance for Energy Democracy
Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments
American Rivers
Apostolic Faith Center
Appalachian Mountain Club
Appalachian Mountain Advocates
Appalachian Voices
Ashurst Bar/Smith Community Organization
Azul
Battlement Concerned Citizens
BECAUSE
Benicians for a Safe and Healthy Community
Biomonitoring Resource Center at Commonweal
Bold Alliance
Boston Climate Action Network
Breast Cancer Action
Breast Cancer Fund
California Bicycle Coalition
California Coastkeeper Alliance
California Environmental Justice Alliance
California Environmental Justice Coalition
California Kids IAQ
California Safe Schools
Californians Against Waste
Californians for Pesticide Reform
Cancer Prevention and Treatment Fund
Center for Biological Diversity
Center for Environmental Health
Center for Food Safety
Center for International Environmental Law
Center for Science in the Public Interest
Central Valley Air Quality Coalition (CVAQ)
Chesapeake Climate Action Network
Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility
Citizens Action Coalition of IN
Citizens Against Ruining the Environment
Citizens’ Environmental Coalition
Clean Air Task Force
Clean and Healthy New York
Clean Water Action
Clean Wisconsin
Climate Action Alliance of the Valley
Climate Law & Policy Project
Climatemama
ClimateTruth.org Action
Coalition For A Safe Environment
Coalition for Clean Air
Coming Clean
Comite Civico del Valle
Community Dreams
Concerned Residents of Portland, NY + People Like Us (CropPlus)
Conservation Colorado Conservation Voters New Mexico & CVNM Education Fund
Defenders of Wildlife
Del Amo Action Committee
Downwinders at Risk
Earth Action, Inc.
Earthjustice
Earthworks
Eco-Justice Collaborative
Ecology Center
Ecology Center (Michigan)
Elders Climate Action
Emerald Cities Collaborative
EMERGE
eNRG - Energizing Renewable Growth in Holston Valley
Environment America
Environment Arizona
Environment California
Environment Colorado
Environment Connecticut
Environment Florida
Environment Georgia
Environment Illinois
Environment Iowa
Environment Maine
Environment Maryland
Environment Massachusetts
Environment Michigan
Environment Minnesota
Environment Missouri
Environment Montana
Environment Nevada
Environment New Hampshire
Environment New Jersey
Environment New Mexico
Environment New York
Environment North Carolina
Environment Ohio
Environment Oregon
Environment Rhode Island
Environment Texas
Environment Virginia
Environment Washington
Environmental Advocates of New York
Environmental Defense Fund
Environmental Health Strategy Center
Environmental Integrity Project
Environmental Law and Policy Center
Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC)
Environmental Working Group
Farmworker Association of Florida
Farmworker Justice
Food Empowerment Project
French Broad Riverkeeper
Friends of the Earth
Gasp
Grand Canyon Trust
Green America
Green For All
GreenLatinos
Greenpeace USA
Heal the Bay
Health Care Without Harm
Healthy Schools Network
Hispanic Federation
Humboldt Baykeeper
ICARE llC
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Interfaith Power & Light
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement
Iowa Interfaith Power & Light
IVAN Statewide Network
La Union Hace La Fuerza
Labadie Environmental Organization (LEO)
Latino Decisions
LDA Minnesota
LDA Utah Chapter
League of Conservation Voters
Learning Disabilities Association of Georgia
Learning Disabilities Association of Illinois
Learning Disabilities Association of Maine
Learning Disabilities Association of New Jersey
Learning Disabilities Association of Texas
Let's Talk Climate
Louisiana Bucket Brigade
Made Safe
Maine Audubon
Maine Wilderness Guides Organization
Martinez Environmental Group
Mass Audubon
Missouri Coalition for the Environment
Moms Clean Air Force
Montana Conservation Voters
Montana Environmental Information Center
Mossville Environmental Action Now
National Audubon Society
National Parks Conservation Association
Natural Resources Defense Council
NC Interfaith Power & Light
Neighbors for Clean Air
Nevada Conservation League
New Virginia Majority
NextGen Climate
North Carolina Council of Churches
North Carolina League of Conservation Voters
Northcoast Environmental Center
Northern Plains Resource Council
Ocean Futures Society
Oceana
Ohio Citizen Action
Ohio Environmental Council
Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition
Oil Change International
Oregon Aviation Watch
Oregon Environmental Council
Our Roots Multicultural Center
Parents for Nontoxic Alternatives
Partnership for Policy Integrity
PennEnvironment
PennFuture
People's Action
Pesticide Action Network
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Potomac Riverkeeper Network
Poverty & Race Research Action Council
Prevent Harm
Public Citizen
Public Lab
Renew Missouri
RESTORE: The North Woods
Rochester People’s Climate Coalition
Rootskeeper.org
Safe Alternatives for our Forest Environment
Safe Climate Campaign
Safer Chemicals Healthy Families
San Pedro & Peninsula Homeowners Coalition
Save The Bay, Oakland, CA
Sierra Club
South Portland Air Quality
Southern Maine Conservation Collaborative
St. Philomena Social Justice Ministry
Students for a Just & Stable Future
Sunflower Alliance
Sustainable Silicon Valley
SustainUS
Texas Campaign for the Environment
Texas League of Conservation Voters
The Alaska Center
The Center for Media and Democracy
The Climate Reality Project
The Climate Trust
The Environmental Justice Center at Chestnut Hill United Church
The Greenlining Institute
The Moving Forward Network
The Trustees
Toxic Free NC
Tri County Watchdogs
Union of Concerned Scientists
Utah Moms for Clean Air
Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment
Ventura Coastkeeper
Virginia Organizing
Voices for Progress
WaterWatch of Oregon
WE ACT for Environmental Justice
West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project
West Virginia Highlands Conservancy
Western Colorado Congress
Western Organization of Resource Councils
Wholly H2O
Wilmington Improvement Network
Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters
Wisconsin Environment
Women’s Voices for the Earth
Young Evangelicals for Climate Action
Young Fresnans for the Environment