Growth Energy welcomes confirmation of Scott Pruitt as EPA Administrator

Growth Energy, a trade body for US ethanol producers, has welcomed the confirmation of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

In response to Pruitt’s confirmation, Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor, issued the following statement: “We congratulate Pruitt on his confirmation as Administrator of the EPA. We look forward to working with him to carry out President Trump’s strong commitment to the Renewable Fuel Standard and the issues crucial to the success of the American ethanol industry.

“America’s ethanol producers and supporters were instrumental in helping bring President Trump into the White House and are counting on his leadership to protect home-grown domestic energy security.

“We are confident that Administrator Pruitt and his team recognise the important role the ethanol industry plays in supporting American jobs, fostering a vibrant rural economy, and giving American consumers access to 21st Century fuels for their 21st Century vehicles.”

American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers president and CEO Chet Thompson said: “We congratulate Administrator Pruitt on his confirmation as the next Administrator of EPA. His experience and leadership skills will be an asset to EPA and the country.

“We are confident that Administrator Pruitt understands that environmental protection, economic growth, and energy security are not mutually exclusive, but rather require reasonable balancing. Under his leadership, we can realize the President’s America First Energy Plan, which embraces our country’s potential to be an energy superpower while simultaneously protecting the environment.” 

Staff at the EPA have been told that President Donald Trump is preparing a handful of executive orders to reshape the agency, two sources who attended a meeting last week told Reuters.

A senior EPA official who had been briefed by members of the Trump administration mentioned the executive orders at a meeting of staffers in the EPA’s Office of General Counsel on 14 February, 2017, but did not provide details about what the orders would say, said the sources, who asked not to be named, Reuters reported.

“It was just a heads-up to expect some executive orders, that’s it,” one of the sources told the media agency.

The second source said attendees at the meeting were told Trump would sign between two and five executive orders, Reuters said.

Trump’s EPA Administrator choice has close links to the oil industry. Pruitt sued the EPA more than a dozen times to block its regulations while he was the top prosecutor for the oil and gas producing state.