Pruitt’s old e-mails confirm his cozy relationship with polluting industries

Nearly two years ago, the Center for Media and Democracy used Oklahoma’s Open Records Act to request to see correspondence between the office of the state’s then–attorney general Scott Pruitt and the fossil fuel industry. Senators repeatedly asked Pruitt about these missing e-mails during his confirmation hearings to become EPA administrator. In response, Pruitt told them to submit Open Records Act requests, knowing that his office was intentionally withholding the same pertinent information from the CMD. A few days after Pruitt was confirmed as EPA chief, more than 7,500 e-mails were finally released—and they confirm his critics’ worst fears about Pruitt: He’s the polluters' lawyer, not the people's lawyer. Beyond having a chummy relationship with fossil fuel lobbyists, he also worked hand-in-glove with energy companies to coordinate legal strategies aimed at thwarting the EPA’s rulings. Pruitt did this for the benefit of polluters (and himself)—at the expense of public health and the environment, which he is now charged with protecting.