© 2024 WSHU
NPR News & Classical Music
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
We received reports that some iPhone users with the latest version of iOS (v17.4) cannot play audio via the Grove Persistent Player.
While we work to fix the issue, we recommend downloading the WSHU app.

Conn. Environment Groups Say Trump's EPA Pick Will 'Dismantle' Agency

Sue Ogrocki
/
AP
Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma Attorney General, gestures as he speaks during an interview in Oklahoma City in March.

Connecticut environmental groups say they oppose President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of Oklahoma Republican Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency.  

Connecticut Fund for the Environment Legal Director Roger Reynolds says Pruitt has a record in Oklahoma of opposing the mission of the EPA.

“He’s really being sent there to specifically dismantle this agency. And this agency is responsible for the enormous environmental progress that we’ve achieved.”

Reynolds says maintaining that progress is vital to protecting and preserving air and water resources across state borders.

“These are interstate problems. Water does not respect state boundaries, and air certainly does not respect state boundaries. So the states can’t do that on our own.”

Reynolds says his organization and several other environmental groups in Connecticut would like Trump’s transition team to pull Pruitt’s name from consideration. He says if they don’t, pro-environment Democratic and Republican lawmakers in the U.S. Senate should come together and reject Pruitt’s nomination.  

So far the Trump transition team has shown no indication of reversing any of the nominations they’ve made.  

As WSHU Public Radio’s award-winning senior political reporter, Ebong Udoma draws on his extensive tenure to delve deep into state politics during a major election year.