Senate Votes to Confirm Scott Pruitt to Lead the EPA

On Feb. 17, by a 52-46 vote, the U.S. Senate confirmed Scott Pruitt as the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Pruitt’s nomination by President Donald Trump to head the agency was decried by many as soon as it was announced, due to Pruitt’s history of opposition to the standards of the agency he now leads; Pruitt even sued the EPA 14 times.

Pruitt’s lawsuits attempted to dismantle policies aimed to combat climate change and protect clean air and water. Pruitt made known, during his Senate confirmation hearing, his disbelief of scientific studies about climate change.

Now that Pruitt has been confirmed, the question has been asked whether Scott Pruitt will live out, in his role as the head of the EPA, the tenets of his Christian faith. On Feb. 17 Sen. Tom Carper presented on the floor of the Senate an excerpt from a Sojourners article written by Kyle Meyaard-Schaap, the spokesperson for Young Evangelicals for Climate Action.

“If Scott Pruitt embraces his own self-described pro-life stance, he should fight to protect vulnerable lives … from environmental pollution,” wrote Meyaard-Schaap.

Meyaard-Schaap continued:

“He should work tirelessly to ensure that everyone has clean water and air. He should strengthen, not eviscerate, an agency equipped to honor God’s mandate to steward and care for the creation. As Oklahoma attorney general, he has done the opposite.”

Every Republican senator voted for Pruitt’s confirmation except Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who also voted against the nomination of Betsy DeVos as secretary of education.

Every Democrat senator voted against Pruitt’s confirmation except Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.). Sen. Manchin also voted to confirm Jeff Sessions — another controversial nomination by President Trump — as attorney general.

Read more here.