President Trump praised his newly sworn-in head of the Environmental Protection Agency at his rally in Melbourne, Fla., saying he’ll represent a “big difference” in reversing the actions of the Obama administration that were “clogging up the veins of our country.”
“He’ll do so good,” Trump told the crowd.
Trump said Pruitt may have projects that get “rejected,” in what was probably a reference to the courts, but assured that they would be “rejected quickly.”
“For the most part they’re going to be accepted, they’re going to be environmentally friendly, and he is going to be a great secretary,” he added.
Taking aim at the EPA under President Obama, Trump suggested that Pruitt will work to undo many of the Obama-era environmental regulations that made it “impossible to navigate for companies” and promised that jobs would soon return to the U.S.
“It’s going to be a big difference, Trump said, “because, they were clogging up the veins of our country with the environmental impact statements, and all of the rules and regulations.”
Pruitt, the former attorney general of Oklahoma, faced a contentious confirmation process in the Senate, with most Democrats faulting him for leading litigation efforts against some of the Obama EPA’s signature regulations, including the Clean Power Plan, the centerpiece of the Obama administration’s climate change agenda. He was also criticized for being a skeptic of climate change, doubting that manmade use of fossil fuels being its primary cause.
He was confirmed by a 52-46 vote and was sworn in Friday.
Trump’s former head of the EPA transition, Myron Ebell, told media outlets that the administration is looking to cut the agency’s staff by two-thirds, dropping from 15,000 to 5,000 employees.
