Trump's EPA pick Scott Pruitt must release correspondence with oil and gas companies


Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, President Trump's pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency, must hand over thousands of emails related to his communication with representatives of the gas, oil, and coal industry, an Oklahoma judge ruled Thursday.
The Center for Media and Democracy filed a lawsuit after Pruitt refused to release the emails under public records laws. The judge gave Pruitt's office until Tuesday to turn over the records, but the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on his confirmation Friday. "A rushed Senate vote to confirm Pruitt as EPA Administrator right now would be a travesty," Elizabeth Thompson, president of climate and political affairs at the Environmental Defense Fund, said in a statement. "The documents in question are related to Pruitt's fitness to serve as head of EPA. Senators should exercise due diligence when confirming nominees, and they can't do that when they've been denied access to relevant information."
Pruitt sued the EPA several times during the Obama administration, and received more than $300,000 from oil and gas companies during his campaigns. In 2014, The New York Times reported that a letter supposedly written by Pruitt, claiming that the EPA overestimated air pollution from natural gas drilling, was really written by lawyers at one of Oklahoma's largest oil and gas companies, Devon Energy.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
How much does it cost to move? Here's how to budget and save.
the explainer Factors like move distance and the weight of your furnishings can affect the total cost — but there are several ways to economize
-
'The McDonald's menu board is one fascinating thing'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
One great cookbook: 'Jam Bakes'
The Week Recommends A guide to pristine jam-making, plus the baked goods that love them
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fine
Speed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year