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Trump picks Oklahoma AG Scott Pruitt, climate change denier and oil industry booster, for EPA

Posted at 2:39 PM, Dec 07, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-07 17:04:54-05

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is expected to nominate Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, a source close to Pruitt has told The Associated Press.

Pruitt has been a booster of the fossil fuel industry and an outspoken critic of what he derides as the EPA's "activist agenda." The 48-year-old Republican also denies the overwhelming scientific evidence that the Earth is warming and that man-made carbon emissions are to blame.

Representing his state, Pruitt has repeatedly sued the EPA to roll back environmental regulations and public health protections, including opposing the Clean Power Plan that seeks to limit planet-warming carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. He also filed court briefs in support of the Keystone XL Pipeline project blocked by the Obama administration.

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