Emails show EPA head's cozy ties to oil and gas producers

Scott Pruitt.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Thousands of emails made public on Wednesday by an Oklahoma judge show that Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, had close relationships with oil and gas producers and electric and fossil fuel companies, as well as political groups backed by the Koch brothers, while serving as the Republican attorney general of Oklahoma.

Pruitt sued the Obama administration's EPA 14 times during his tenure, and emails show that his office worked with these companies to put together drafts of letters for Pruitt to sign, seeking to stop new regulations. One email sent to Pruitt from an executive at the Koch-supported Americans for Prosperity, a conservative political advocacy group, thanked him and his bosses for all they did "to push back against President Obama's EPA and its axis with liberal environmental groups to increase energy costs for Oklahomans and American families across the states." Pruitt was confirmed by the Senate 52-46 on Friday, despite protests from Democrats and environmentalists. The emails were released as part of a lawsuit filed against Pruitt by the liberal watchdog group Center for Media and Democracy.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

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.