Just like so many of my fellow citizens of Montezuma County, the state of Colorado, and this great nation, I am concerned about the health of our planet and its people. It is vital that our government officials recognize the very real impacts of climate change that scientists worldwide have stated will have serious consequences if ignored.
I am urging our Senators, particularly Cory Gardner, to vote against the confirmation of Scott Pruitt as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As Attorney General of Oklahoma, Mr. Pruitt filed lawsuits against the EPA’s Clean Power Plan. This plan will limit harmful carbon pollution from power plants that significantly contribute to climate change.
Mr. Pruitt has repeatedly questioned proven climate science, calling it “speculative guess work.” Mr. Pruitt has filed 14 lawsuits against the federal government to challenge environmental regulations. Mr. Pruitt or his campaign committees have accepted funding from other participants in those lawsuits.
According to the New York Times, “Mr. Pruitt has served as the leader of the Republican Attorneys General Association, which since 2013 has collected $4.2 million from fossil-fuel related companies, including Exxon Mobil, Koch Industries, Murray Energy and Southern Company, which in many cases have also supported the lawsuits he has filed.”
How can we entrust our foundational and fragile environmental resources to someone who fought so hard against the agency mandated to protect those resources? We can fully expect Mr. Pruitt to undo the progress we have fought so hard to make: the implementation of key safeguards to protect our public health and our environment from the imminent and dangerous threat of climate change and other hazardous air pollutants.
Because Montezuma and La Plata Counties are facing increasing pressure to extract oil and gas from our public lands, it is imperative that we have administrators willing to enforce the Clean Power Plan and other regulations to protect our health and environment for all future generations.
Senators Gardner and Bennet should do the right thing and vote against Mr. Pruitt’s nomination as head of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Jane Anderson
Dolores