FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 8, 2016
Contact: Laura McMillan 540-292-8429
CFE/Save the Sound opposes Pruitt for EPA head
Org to circulate regional opposition letter to fossil fuel insider nomination
NEW HAVEN, CONN. – Connecticut Fund for the Environment and its bi-state program Save the Sound strongly opposes the nomination of fossil fuel industry insider and Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt as administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Donald S. Strait, president of the four-decade-old organization, said,
“This isn’t just letting the fox into the henhouse, it’s handing the fox the architectural blueprints and a stick of dynamite. The world is in climate crisis. We can’t afford four years of going backward under an EPA chief who doesn’t believe the climate change data and has a history of using his state-level position to advance the interests of the fossil fuel industry. Scott Pruitt has actively fought EPA clean water rules, Clean Air regulation, and the Clean Power Plan. This type of EPA head would have devastating and long-term effects for our region, including damage to air quality, federal funding to protect Long Island Sound, and protections for healthy drinking water.
“Over the next several days, we will be circulating a sign-on letter to organizations, officials, and businesses throughout Connecticut and the Long Island Sound region. Together we will call on the president-elect’s transition team to withdraw the nomination of Scott Pruitt and put forward a qualified nominee who will uphold our laws and protect clean air and clean water for all Americans. If the president-elect insists on putting Pruitt forward, we will call on the Senate to stand up for health and the environment and firmly reject him.”
To sign on to CFE/Save the Sound’s letter of opposition, please contact Melissa at mschlag@ctenvironment.org. Organizational and individual sign-ons will be accepted until 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 13.