{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.merkley.senate.gov/news/in-the-news/senate-democrats-gear-up-to-fight-trumps-dangerous-epa-nominee", "Senate Democrats gear up to fight Trump’s ‘dangerous’ EPA nominee", "2016-12-08", "2016", "2016-12", "Democrat", "House", "OR", "Jeff Merkley", "M001176", "www.merkley.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Senate Democrats gear up to fight Trump\u2019s \u2018dangerous\u2019 EPA nominee \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThursday, December 8, 2016\r\n\r\n\t\n\r\n\r\n\r\n  \r\n    By:\u00a0\r\n    Natasha Geiling\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nMoments after news broke that President-elect Donald Trump would be\u00a0appointing Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt?\u2014?a close friend of the fossil fuel industry and noted climate denier?\u2014?as EPA administrator, Democratic legislators in Congress began voicing their ardent disapproval.\r\n\u201cAt a time when climate change is the great environmental threat to the entire planet, it is sad and dangerous that Mr. Trump has nominated Scott Pruitt to lead the EPA,\u201d Sen. Bernie Sanders, (I-VT), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works committee that will hold hearings on Pruitt\u2019s confirmation, said in a statement. \u201cMr. Pruitt\u2019s record is not only that of being a climate change denier, but also someone who has worked closely with the fossil fuel industry to make this country more dependent, not less, on fossil fuels. The American people must demand leaders who are willing to transform our energy system away from fossil fuels. I will vigorously oppose this nomination.\u201d\r\nOther staunch supporters of climate action on the Environment and Public Works committee issued similarly strongly-worded statements in opposition to Pruitt\u2019s nomination. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA),\u00a0said that\u00a0\u201cdenying the science of climate change and carrying water for Big Oil and the fossil fuel industry make [Pruitt] unsuitable to lead the EPA,\u201d adding that, like Sanders, he would \u201cvigorously oppose Scott Pruitt\u2019s nomination.\u201d\r\nSen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) called Pruitt \u201ca dangerous and unacceptable choice to lead the agency tasked with leading our climate efforts and protecting clean air and clean water for all Americans,\u201d noting Pruitt\u2019s history of climate denial and his penchant for suing the federal government to block environmental regulations like limits on mercury, arsenic, and carbon pollution. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) also hit Pruitt for his climate denial, and added that \u201cScott Pruitt has chosen his fossil fuel donors over the health and well-being of the people he serves\u201d at every turn.\r\n\u201cI expect the American people will be shocked that President-elect Trump has chosen someone with such disdain for their health as they learn more about Pruitt during his confirmation hearings,\u201d Whitehouse said, previewing what is likely to be a rancorous confirmation process split cleanly among party lines.\r\nOther Senate Democrats took less outwardly combative positions, pledging to press Pruitt hard during confirmation hearings on his climate denial and deep ties to the fossil fuel industry.\r\n\u201cI believe strongly in the cabinet confirmation process?\u2014?including giving every nominee a fair and timely hearing. To that end, as a senior member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, I will listen to what Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt has to say about his vision for the EPA,\u201d Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), said in a statement. \u201cHowever I am concerned about this nomination. Mr. Pruitt has made a name for himself out of denying the very existence of climate change. Now President-elect Trump has selected him to lead the agency charged with addressing it. Mr. Pruitt has made a career out of suing the EPA. Now he wants to run the agency.\u201d\r\nOn the other side of the aisle, Republicans cheered Pruitt\u2019s nomination, casting him as a fresh leader who would work to reign in EPA overreach?\u2014?including rules like the Obama administration\u2019s Clean Power Plan, which seeks to limit carbon pollution from power plants in an effort to curb manmade climate change.\r\nSen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) tweeted his support for Pruitt on Wednesday evening.\r\nAnd Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) cheered Pruitt\u2019s nomination in a statement, calling him \u201cexactly the type of person we need to lead the EPA during this critical time.\u201d\r\n\u201cHe has been a driving force behind the legal battle against President Obama\u2019s environmental policies and far-reaching regulations,\u201d Capito added. \u201cI look forward to working with him to reverse policies that threaten affordable, reliable energy and jobs.\u201d\r\nSen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works committee and perhaps the\u00a0most famous climate denier\u00a0in the U.S. Senate, also praised Pruitt\u2019s nomination.\r\n\u201cPruitt has fought back against unconstitutional and overzealous environmental regulations like Waters of the U.S. and the Clean Power Plan; he has proven that being a good steward of the environment does not mean burdening tax payers and businesses with red tape,\u201d Inhofe said. \u201cI am pleased with President-elect Trump\u2019s selection and I look forward to working with my fellow Oklahoman in his new capacity.\u201d\r\nGiven Pruitt\u2019s record of working hand-in-hand with the fossil fuel industry to fight environmental regulations?\u2014?a\u00a02014 New York Times investigation revealed\u00a0that he once sent a letter to the EPA challenging federal regulations that had been written by one of Oklahoma\u2019s biggest oil and gas companies?\u2014?his confirmation process seems sure to draw stiff opposition from Democratic legislators. It\u2019s likely to be a partisan mirror of current EPA administrator Gina McCarthy\u2019s confirmation process, which took a\u00a0record 136 days\u00a0and included more than 1,100 questions from the Environment and Public Works Committee (1,075 of which came from Republicans).\r\nIn the end, six Republican Senators voted to confirm McCarthy?\u2014?and Democrats aiming to stop Pruitt\u2019s nomination will again look to these more moderate legislators to help derail Pruitt\u2019s chances of leading the EPA.\r\nSpeaking on a press call convened by the League of Conservation voters, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) called Pruitt\u2019s nomination a \u201clitmus test\u201d for every Senator that has claimed to believe in climate science.\r\n\u201cThis is a four alarm fire. We are going to do everything we can to stop his nomination and we are going to need broad-based bipartisan support for that,\u201d Schatz said.\r\nWhitehouse?\u2014?who has given\u00a0more than 150 speeches\u00a0on the floor of the Senate about climate change?\u2014?agreed with Schatz, and seemed optimistic that a handful of Republican Senators could be convinced to stand in opposition to a climate denier as head of the EPA.\r\n\u201cWe have a lot of Republican Senators who have supported climate change bills in the past, who have voted on Brian [Schatz\u2019s] and my climate amendments, and who need to be put on the spot about this one,\u201d Whitehouse said. \u201cIt\u2019s a true opportunity to move this issue forward and we should take full advantage.\u201d\r\n\r\n \r\n           \r\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.merkley.senate.gov/news/in-the-news/senate-democrats-gear-up-to-fight-trumps-dangerous-epa-nominee"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6178060322999954, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}