Trump picks climate change skeptic to lead EPA
Donald Trump selected Scott Pruit, attorney general of Oklahoma and a climate science skeptic, as the next administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. “His nomination is a clear signal of Republicans’ desire to dismantle Obama’s climate legacy,” writes environment reporter Oliver Milman. Pruitt has called the EPA’s rule “unlawful and overreaching” and is part of legal action waged by 28 states against the EPA to halt the Clean Power Plan, an effort by Obama’s administration to curb greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants. Within hours of Pruitt’s appointment, the president-elect, Ivanka Trump and advisers met with Leonardo DiCaprio and the head of his foundation to discuss job creation by renewable, clean energy.