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Letter to the Editor: The Dangers of Scott Pruitt

Dear Editor:

While Missouri GOP lawmakers are eager to see Scott Pruitt take over the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)( Re; “ Missouri Republicans call on McCaskill to confirm Pruitt as EPA head”, Jan. 17th), they are ignoring the danger he poses to our environment and our health.

State Senator Gary Romine and State Representative Travis Fitzwater have filled two resolutions in the Missouri Senate and House urging the U.S. Senate to confirm Pruitt. But, Pruitt is the wrong choice to lead the EPA.

Pruitt has been a party to several lawsuits against the agency he is nominated to lead.  He denies the science of climate change and he has deep ties to oil and gas interests

As the attorney general of Oklahoma, Pruitt proved to be extremely anti-regulation and dismantled the state’s  Environmental Protection Unit. He is a threat to our clean air and clean water.

While some Missouri GOP lawmakers may disagree, we need the EPA to continue to protect our environment through the regulation of harmful green house gas emissions.

Climate change is one of the biggest issues of our time. 2016 was the hottest year on record. Our warming globe is posing a severe risk to public health through  extreme weather, longer heat waves and unbreathable air.  Climate change is affecting us all  right now. We need to cut our global warming emissions to fight this growing epidemic.

In the last 15 years, our greatest progress in tackling the major sources of these emissions has come from federal and state policies under the Clean Air Act.  Some of biggest policy advances include the Clean Power Plan, the mercury and other power plant rules, and the state and federal clean cars standard.

Confirming Scott Pruitt puts all this at risk.

That is why Sen. Claire McCaskill should reject Pruitt for the EPA, despite a number of republicans calling for the opposite. Protecting our public health is a win for us all.

Beyond the Pruitt nomination,  McCaskill is in a key  position to stop environmental rollbacks in the Senate. McCaskill should defend our climate progress and protect  our environment,  our health, and our future.

Taylor Hale
Environment Missouri