As Scott Pruitt made his first appearance before Congress as the administrator of the EPA, a crowd—including Congressman Don McEachin—rallied outside, calling for Pruitt to prioritize our public health rather than polluter profits.  Sara Jordan, LCV’s legislative representative, spoke to the crowd, admonishing Pruitt’s tenure as EPA administrator and calling on Congress to hold him accountable.  As Sara put it, “Every action Scott Pruitt has taken since he took over the EPA has been a cynical attempt to protect polluters’ profits at the expense of our health.”  Read her full remarks below:

Thank you. I’m Sara Jordan with the League of Conservation Voters.

Donald Trump has assembled the most anti-environmental cabinet in our country’s history and Scott Pruitt stands out as the worst of the worst. 

Every action Scott Pruitt has taken since he took over the EPA has been a cynical attempt to protect polluters’ profits at the expense of our health.

The head of the EPA’s job is to protect our health and environment. Scott Pruitt has done exactly the opposite – he has put science on trial and he has attempted to secretly dismantle some of our most important health and climate safeguards.

As attorney general of Oklahoma, Pruitt sued the EPA 14 times to block public health protections. It’s no wonder, then, as EPA Administrator he is now going after the air we breathe and the water we drink so that he can continue to protect the profits of his polluter cronies.

In less than a year as EPA Administrator, he has attempted to systematically dismantle our clean air and clean water standards, all of which are vital safeguards designed to protect our health. And his motivation is crystal clear. Just look at his schedule: Pruitt has met almost exclusively with polluters and dirty energy lobbyists before making policy decisions that favor their bottom line.  

Scott Pruitt’s actions as EPA administrator fly in the face of science and go against what the vast majority of Americans want: clean air and strong public health protections.

In fact, majorities of Americans in all 50 states and in all 435 Congressional districts in this country, support setting strict limits on carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants. So what does Scott Pruitt do? He starts the process to repeal the Clean Power Plan.

As we are witnessing the devastating impacts from climate change, Scott Pruitt is taking every opportunity to gut the tools we have in place to combat it.

Pruitt has made it clear where his priorities lie – and it’s not with the American people. Congress should hold him to account. And today, we’ll be watching to see which members of Congress do just that.  

Thank you.