{"id":16643,"date":"2013-10-03T07:00:38","date_gmt":"2013-10-03T12:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=16643"},"modified":"2013-10-04T12:53:06","modified_gmt":"2013-10-04T17:53:06","slug":"an-insiders-guide-to-oklahoma-attorney-general-scott-pruitts-war-with-the-epa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2013\/10\/03\/an-insiders-guide-to-oklahoma-attorney-general-scott-pruitts-war-with-the-epa\/","title":{"rendered":"An Insider’s Guide to Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt’s War With the EPA"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Oklahoma<\/p>\n

Joe Wertz \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt prepares to greet Gov. Mary Fallin at the 2013 State of the State address at the state capitol.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is at war with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which he says is overstepping its authority. He\u2019s sued the federal agency<\/a> and testified to Congress about its abuses<\/a>.<\/p>

The most visible battles have been over coal regulation, but the fight is about power \u2014 not power plants.<\/p>

<\/p>

The EPA in September proposed new rules<\/a> limiting the amount of carbon that future coal and natural gas-fired power plants can emit into the atmosphere. The rules were the administration\u2019s first major environmental action since President Barack Obama outlined his new climate change policy in a June speech at Georgetown University.<\/p>

The energy industry will almost certainly challenge the EPA\u2019s rules in court. And if he gets a chance, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt will likely challenge them, too. Oklahoma\u2019s lawyer-in-chief has been at odds with the EPA since he took office in 2011.<\/p>

\u201cSome believe that we don\u2019t need an EPA, that they don\u2019t have any role at all,\u201d Pruitt tells StateImpact. I\u2019m not one of those folks. I think the EPA can serve \u2014 and has served, historically \u2014 a very valuable purpose.\u201d<\/p>

But Oklahoma\u2019s Attorney General says the EPA is no longer serving that purpose \u2014 its historical mission to protect human health and preserve the environment. Pruitt says today, the EPA is writing and enforcing rules to pick winners and losers in the energy industry.<\/p>

Right now, coal is the biggest target in the EPA\u2019s crosshairs. Oklahoma electric utilities depend on coal<\/a> to fuel their power plants, but Oklahoma is not a major coal producer like Wyoming or West Virginia. But Pruitt says natural gas \u2014 a big energy commodity in Oklahoma \u2014 is on the federal agency\u2019s hit list, too.<\/p>

\u201cI think that the progression from coal to natural gas is rather small,\u201d Pruitt says. \u201cI think the attitude with the EPA is that fossil fuels are bad \u2014 period. And they\u2019re doing everything they can to use the rule-making process to attack both.\u201d<\/p>

Attorney General Pruitt has fought the EPA\u2019s crackdown on coal-fired power plants. When the federal agency denied the state\u2019s plan to control coal haze in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in favor of a stricter federal plan, Pruitt sued. That case was dismissed in 2012, but Pruitt is still fighting. Right now he\u2019s asking the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider<\/a> a recent 2-1 decision that favored the<\/a> EPA\u2019s pollution plan over Oklahoma\u2019s.<\/p>

\u201cThe EPA didn\u2019t like our plan for one reason: It contained fossil fuels. And it didn\u2019t\u2019 get rid of them as quick as it wanted it to occur,” Pruitt says.<\/p>\n

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