Dear Senator,

The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) works to turn environmental values into national, state and local priorities. Each year, LCV publishes the National Environmental Scorecard, which details the voting records of members of Congress on environmental legislation. The Scorecard is distributed to LCV members, concerned voters nationwide, and the media.

We urge you to oppose the judicial nomination of Judge Patrick Wyrick to the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. As Solicitor General of Oklahoma, Wyrick was then-Oklahoma Attorney General, now EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s “dear friend and trusted counselor,” working together on multiple cases challenging the EPA’s ability to protect public lands and clean air and address climate change. In State of Oklahoma; Oklahoma Industrial Energy Consumers; Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company v. EPA; Sierra Club, they challenged an EPA plan to protect scenic vistas in certain national parks under the Regional Haze Program of the Clean Air Act. In State of West Virginia, et al. v. EPA, they challenged clean air standards for oil and gas drilling and production sites under the EPA’s rule, “Oil and Natural Gas Sector: Emission Standards for New, Reconstructed, and Modified Sources.”

In two other cases, State of West Virginia, et al. v. EPA, et al. and North Dakota, et al. v. EPA, et al. they challenged carbon pollution standards for existing and new power plants, respectively, also known as the Clean Power Plan. The impacts of climate change are already having devastating consequences across the globe. We simply cannot afford to the Senate confirm to a lifetime appointment someone who helped lead the charge against the biggest step our country has ever taken to address the climate crisis.

For these reasons, LCV strongly urges you to oppose the judicial nomination of Judge Patrick Wyrick to the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. We will consider including this confirmation vote in the 2018 Scorecard. If you need more information, please call my office at (202) 785-8683 and ask to speak with a member of our government relations team.

Sincerely,

Gene Karpinski

President