Putting twist on word "Protection," fossil fuel industry ally picked to run EPA.

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Trump names Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma attorney general suing EPA on climate change, to head the EPA

President-elect considering executive order to change agency’s name

The New York Times reported today that President-elect Donald J. Trump has selected Scott Pruitt, the Oklahoma attorney general and a close ally of the fossil fuel industry, to run the Environmental Protection Agency.

According to the Times, Mr. Pruitt, a Republican, has been a key architect of the legal battle against President Obama’s climate change policies.

Mr. Pruitt, 48, is one of a number of Republican attorneys general who have formed an alliance with some of the nation’s top energy producers to push back against the Obama regulatory agenda. 

Saying that the debate on climate change is “far from settled," Pruitt is part of a coalition of state attorneys general suing the agency over the administration’s Clean Power Plan.

Industry representatives expressed satisfaction with the Pruitt nomination, with a spokesman for the American Petroleum Institute saying, "Scott Pruitt is an outstanding choice for this position given that he is suing the federal agency he is scheduled to lead and is a trusted ally of the industry he will be charged with regulating. You can't do better than this."

There has been no confirmation from the transition team at Trump Tower that along with Mr. Pruitt’s nomination, Mr. Trump is considering an executive order changing the name of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the Environmental Destruction Agency (EDA).