Washington, DC – Scott Pruitt, President Trump’s pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency, drew a stiff rebuke from Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) for his evasive, misleading, or demonstrably false answers to Senators’ questions for the record following Pruitt’s confirmation hearing. Pruitt provided responses to Environment and Public Works Committee members’ post-hearing questions for the record late Tuesday night. In the following statement, Whitehouse asks the still unanswered question: what is Scott Pruitt hiding?
“Mr. Pruitt’s testimony before the Environment and Public Works Committee was evasive and misleading. Several Committee members urged him to set the record straight by providing real answers to our follow-up questions. Instead, Pruitt chose to provide equally evasive responses, ignoring the Senate’s constitutional duty to provide advice and consent on administration officials. Again, what is Mr. Pruitt hiding?
“Any Senator who believes that Congress has a role overseeing this Administration should take note. As Attorney General, Mr. Pruitt has an abysmal record in producing inconvenient documents requested under Oklahoma’s Open Records Act, with one request for over 3,000 documents between his office and Koch Industries, Devon Energy, Murray Energy, and other fossil fuel heavyweights still languishing for over 745 days. Now over a dozen times he has directed Senators, who are poised to vote on his nomination, to go to the back of a very long, first-come, never-served line to learn more about his record. If Mr. Pruitt is willing to sidestep the Senators performing their role of providing advice and consent on his nomination, I can hardly imagine how contemptuous he will be when Congress asks for information about changes he makes to the Renewable Fuel Standard, clean air and water protections, or toxics regulations.”
While Pruitt responded to questions submitted following his confirmation hearing, he has been silent on questions posed weeks ago from multiple Senators seeking information on his connection to secretive “dark money” groups, which have been tied to industries he would be charged with regulating should he be confirmed.
Highlights from Scott Pruitt’s
Misleading, Smug, and Simply False Responses to
Sen. Whitehouse’s Questions for the Record
Pruitt denies basic science of carbon pollution, like ocean acidification.
6. Do you accept the science of ocean acidification that has directly connected the increase in human-caused carbon dioxide emissions with decreases in ocean pH?
A: First, I would note that the oceans are alkaline and are projected to remain so. Second, it is my understanding that the degree of alkalinity in the ocean is highly variable and therefore it is difficult to attribute that variability to any single cause.
7. Do you accept that the oceans are currently acidifying at a rate unprecedented in tens of millions of years?
A: First, I would note that the oceans are alkaline and are projected to remain so. Second, it is my understanding that the degree of alkalinity in the ocean is highly variable and therefore it is difficult to attribute that variability to any single cause. I am unaware of tens of millions of years of data on the pH of oceans.
Pruitt spews outdated information on carbon capture and utilization.
14. Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage is a bipartisan policy area that I am working on with my Republican colleagues. Senator Graham and I visited the world’s first Carbon Capture project in Canada that has been operational since 2014. In 2016, SaskPower successfully captured and injected 800,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide and the facility has operated nearly 85 percent of the time. Recently, Petra Nova in Texas became the first United States first post combustion carbon capture project to begin operation. SaskPower and Petra Nova are listed in the Clean Power Plan as viable options for helping states reach their Clean Power Plan targets. Do you believe that CCUS is a viable technology for reducing emissions from power plants?
A: I believe CCUS technology can play an important role in the development of our future coal fleet, however it is not yet a viable option. Both the SaskPower and Petra Nova plants referenced in your question relied on significant support from their respective governments to become operational. Forcing private businesses to use unproven, expensive technology would be unfair, which is why Congress provided for protections against the EPA embracing such a practice in the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
Pruitt still won’t say whether Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is an unnecessary EPA regulation draining money from the economy.
54. You have been quoted in the press saying, “The American people are tired of seeing billions of dollars drained from our economy due to unnecessary EPA regulations, and I intend to run this agency in a way that fosters both responsible protection of the environment and freedom for American businesses.” Do you see the RFS as one of those unnecessary EPA regulations that is draining money from our economy?
A: The RFS was first enacted by Congress in 2005 and updated and expanded in 2007 to promote domestic production and achieve energy independence. The EPA needs to better administer this program to provide involved entities with the certainty they need, and, if confirmed, I will administer the RFS in accordance with statute and Congressional intent.
Despite clear reports to the contrary, Pruitt continues to take credit for others’ efforts to hold polluters accountable in Oklahoma.
25. EPA and States are co-implementers of many of our federal environmental laws and programs. We believe that the tools used to implement these programs should be updated, particularly at the State level, to ensure effective implementation. Are there approaches, systems, or tools that you have considered to improve these programs and investments you would like to make in improvements that would benefit both federal and state environmental programs?
A: As I testified in the hearing, I have pursued opportunities to address interstate environmental quality matters. One of the examples I have highlighted is the work that Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel and I took to address an enforceable water quality standard between Arkansas and Oklahoma. I have also discussed how Texas should be responsible when air quality issues affect Oklahoma and my experience with that. When negotiations among and between states breakdown EPA has a role to set environmental standards. However, that is should be a last course of action instead of the first. I believe environmental statutes are designed with states as a primary implementer. Environmental statutes envision that states have the delegated enforcement and primacy to implement and enforce environmental statutes. Only when that is not happening or when negotiations between and among states breakdown should EPA determine a dispute and only after attempting to assist states negotiate a local solution. I am fond of saying that we need national standards and neighborhood solutions. I think that should shape the work of the EPA.
Instead of answering questions about his tenure as Oklahoma Attorney General, Pruitt tells a member of the U.S. Senate, AT LEAST 12 TIMES, to submit Open Records Act requests to his office. This is an office that responds on a first-come basis and requests have been languishing for over two years.
83. Please list all matters you or your office has had with the US EPA since you became Attorney General of Oklahoma. For the purposes of this and the following questions, “matters” refers to lawsuits (including lawsuits in which your office filed a “friend of the court” brief), enforcement actions, investigations, rulemakings, or any other matter which included an adjudication between parties.
A: In order for you to receive a comprehensive response to a voluminous request of that nature requesting information on all matters, I would direct you to make a request of the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office under the Oklahoma Open Records Act.
87. Please list all matters in which your office participated in any way challenging a law, rule, or regulation of a state other than Oklahoma. For each matter listed, please include the following: Your understanding of the effect of that law, rule, or regulation on the people of Oklahoma. The names of the attorneys in your office who worked on the matter, and the names and affiliations of all attorneys with whom you or the attorneys in your office had communications about the matter. The names and affiliations of any person with whom you had communications about the matter, and the dates of the communications, and a summary of the substance of that communication. For any person listed the previous subpart, or corporation represented by that person, any contribution or payment made to Scott Pruitt for Attorney General, the Republican Attorney General Association, the Republican Attorney Generals Association, the Rule of Law Defense Fund, Liberty 2.0, Oklahoma Strong, or any other political action committee or 501(c)(4) organization with which you are or have been affiliated in any way.
A: In order for you to receive a comprehensive response to a voluminous request of that nature requesting information on all matters, I would direct you to make a request of the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office and the Oklahoma Ethics Commission under the Oklahoma Open Records Act and the individual political organizations.
91. Before March 12, 2014, had your office received any complaints about the Humane Society of the United States [HSUS] from a resident of the State of Oklahoma? If so, please identify the date of the complaint, the allegations in the complaint, and the city or town of residence of the complainant.
I believe that our office had received such a complaint, but I do not know the residency of any such complainant. A request for such information can be made to the Office of Attorney General pursuant to Oklahoma’s Open Records Act.
Pruitt’s raised money from the very same industries he’d be regulating at EPA, but has conveniently forgotten many of the details.
98. Did you or anyone working for you or on your behalf ever solicit money for Oklahoma Strong or Liberty 2.0 from fossil fuel and agricultural interests? If so, when, from whom, and what was the result? Please note any solicitations that were made in which you mentioned work done in your official capacity as Attorney General of Oklahoma and what that work was.
A: I solicited funds for Oklahoma Strong PAC from a broad array of individuals and corporations representing many different industries. While I do not recall specific solicitations, given my state’s deep ties to farming and oil and gas, I do not doubt that I at some point fundraised from individuals with some connection to those industries. Staff members of the Oklahoma Strong PAC may have records of such solicitations, so requests for details would have to be made to that entity. I have on occasion solicited funds for Liberty 2.0, and records of those solicitations may be maintained by the staff of that organization, so requests for details would have to be made to that entity. I do not recall the contents of any specific conversations that I may have had in this context.
101. RAGA has given other Republican attorneys general call sheets to solicit on its behalf. Have you or any person working on your behalf ever received call sheets from RAGA asking you to solicit money or event sponsorships? If so, when, for what purpose, who was on your list to contact, who if anyone did you or any member of your staff make contact any of the listed people/entities, and how much money and which sponsorships was given to RAGA as a result?
A: I did receive call sheets to solicit funds and/or event sponsorships for RAGA and I did make contact with the listed people/entities. The exact dates, the purpose, and who was called are records that are kept by RAGA, and those requests would need to be made to RAGA. Similarly, I do not have records of how much money or sponsorships were raised as a result – those records are kept by the Republican Attorneys General Association.
102. Besides call sheet efforts, did you or any person working on your behalf ever solicit money for RAGA? If so, when, from whom, for what purpose, and what was the result?
A: No one else working on my behalf has solicited funds for RAGA. In addition to call sheet efforts, I have asked for funds from individuals/entities in person for RAGA. Records of exact dates, names of individuals and entities and how much money was solicited are kept by the staff of RAGA.
Groups funded by companies Pruitt would regulate gave him gifts including a chartered flight to Vegas, other airfare, accommodations, and more, but he’s conveniently ignorant of the details.
106. RAGA has indicated it has chartered flights for Republican attorneys general. Have you ever been a passenger on a RAGA-chartered flight? If so, when and where did you travel to and from? Did RAGA ever cover or reimburse you for transportation and accommodation? If so, please itemize when, for what, and the value.
A: Yes, I recall I was a passenger on a chartered flight to and from Las Vegas, Nevada in the fall timeframe of 2014. RAGA has covered the cost of flights and accommodations for me when I have attended RAGA meetings. I do not keep itemized records of these expenses, flights and accommodations are booked directly by RAGA staff.
107. While you were on the board of RLDF, did it cover any chartered flights on which you were a passenger or any of your transportation and accommodation costs? Please itemize any chartered or commercial flights, accommodations, and other travel-related expenses that exceed $100, and the value that RLDF covered.
A: As far as I am aware, RLDF has never covered the cost of chartered flights for me or my staff. RLDF has covered costs of transportation and accommodations when I traveled on behalf of RLDF for meetings, panels, and other policy-related events. The staff of RLDF booked travel and accommodations for me directly, and records of the costs and expenses are kept by Rule of Law Defense Fund staff and are not in my possession.
111. During your time as attorney general, have you received gifts or in-kind donations that exceed $100 from any entities besides RAGA and RLDF? If so, please list when, from whom, and describe if it was related to a specific event or commitment.
A: I do not recall receiving gifts with a value of more than $100 from RAGA and/or RLDF. I have, as stated before, had travel and accommodations provided for me when I traveled to and from RAGA or RLDF meetings.
Pruitt makes demonstrably falsely claim that nobody has raised money for the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) on his behalf. Documents show his then chief of staff solicited money from the American Petroleum Institute (API) in 2012. For more details, see this EDF blog post. According to a tax filing from the Republican State Leadership Committee, of which RAGA was then an arm, the following month API contributed $50,000.
102. Besides call sheet efforts, did you or any person working on your behalf ever solicit money for RAGA? If so, when, from whom, for what purpose, and what was the result?
A: No one else working on my behalf has solicited funds for RAGA. In addition to call sheet efforts, I have asked for funds from individuals/entities in person for RAGA. Records of exact dates, names of individuals and entities and how much money was solicited are kept by the staff of RAGA.
Pruitt claims ignorance of what’s posted on his own office’s website, and does not care enough about environmental cases to issue press releases about them.
120. We reviewed the Oklahoma Attorney General’s website between when you took office and the present and found no press releases on criminal or civil environmental enforcement matters. For this review, we did not include lawsuits by Oklahoma against EPA. Why were there no environmental enforcement matters listed on your website as of January 17, 2017?
A: I have not reviewed the website, so I am not familiar with what matters are or are not listed.
Pruitt may be the lone prosecutor in the country who hasn’t kept track of his victories.
122. How many criminal investigations, federal prosecutions, state prosecutions, felony count convictions of individuals, misdemeanor count convictions of individuals, felony count convictions of corporations, misdemeanor count convictions of corporations, years of jail time, and cumulative fines resulted from environmental cases you initiated? Please list and describe any civil suits and actions you initiated.
A: To list and describe every civil suit and action initiated by the Office of Attorney General would be all but impossible. Each attorney is responsible for maintaining their own case files, and the Office employs many attorneys across many different units who litigate civil matters of all kinds. In order for you to receive a comprehensive response to a voluminous request of that nature requesting information on all matters, I would direct you to make a request of the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office under the Oklahoma Open Records Act, and to the extent it is even possible to compile such a list, the Office would make efforts to do so.
Pruitt is so committed to transparency that open records requests to his office languish for two years and he won’t direct his staff to respond to questions relevant to his ability to perform the job of EPA Administrator.
123. The Center for Media and Democracy ORA request is dated on or about January 5, 2015. During the hearing, you said, “I actually have a general counsel and an administrator in my office that are dedicated to performing or providing responses to open records requests.” In response to questions about the January 5, 2015 request, your general counsel apologized for the delayed response and explained she was busy with other duties. What percentage of time do each of the two staff you mentioned dedicate to responding to Open Records Act requests? Have you communicated with your office’s general counsel or any other attorney handling ORA requests to discuss the timing of your office’s response to any specific request? If so, please identify which requests you discussed, the dates of those discussions, and the substance of your discussions.
A: The Office of Attorney General employs a paralegal who intakes requests, opens files, and searches for documents responsive to each Open Records Act request. Once the search is complete, the office’s general counsel must review each document to ensure it does not contain information required to be kept confidential under state and federal laws. Along with overseeing the Open Records Act process, the office’s general counsel is responsible for overseeing many other programs and statutory duties with which the Office is tasked. I am unaware of what percentage of time is spent solely on Open Records Act requests. I do not recall any conversations with individuals in my office regarding the timing of Open Records Act responses.
124. In a letter regarding this request, your general counsel stated your office
processes “these requests in the order in which they are received.” How long has that been the policy of your office? Have you fulfilled any ORA requests submitted since at least January 5, 2015?
A: To my knowledge, that is how the office has historically processed such requests. I am not aware of which requests submitted since January 5, 2015 have or have not been responded to.
125. According to a recent E&E article, your office has 52 outstanding open records requests. Please provide a list of all pending FOIA, Open Records Act or other similar information requests under Oklahoma state law, by whom, and when each was a filed.
A: I am not familiar with the pending requests. Such a requests should be directed to the Office of Attorney General’s general counsel, who can provide such a list.
128. What was the average length of time it took your office to fulfill open record act requests to your office between January 2011 and December 6, 2014? What was the average length of time it took your office to fulfill open record act requests to your office from December 7, 2014 to the present? What, if any, steps has your office taken to improve the timeliness of your Open Records Act responses?
A: I am not aware of what the average length of time my office took to fulfill open record act requests is. I have directed my staff to respond to all Open Records Act requests in a timely and efficient manner.
The man tapped to lead EPA has never given a speech to or received an award from a public health group, environmental groups, or a scientific society.
137. According to your questionnaire, you’ve given dozens of environment-related speeches in Oklahoma and around the country, many to industry groups. Have you ever given one to a public health group, environmental NGO, or scientific society? You’ve received various awards, several from industry groups. Have you ever received an award from a public health or environmental group for protecting public health? How about environmental quality? Have you ever received an award from a scientific society?
A: I have given dozens of speeches on a wide variety of topics to many different groups and industries. I do not recall a specific public health group, NGO or scientific society I have spoken to. I do not recall receiving awards from a public health or environmental group or a scientific society.
Full responses to Democrats’ questions are available here and here.
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