A former aide to Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe is joining the ranks of new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, Scott Pruitt. Mandy Gunasekara is leaving her current post as majority counsel for the Environment and Public Works Committee to become a senior policy adviser for the EPA, according to Bloomberg BNA. Gunasekara is tied to …
(From their days in the State Senate.) Who could blame two of the newly-registered lobbyists on Capitol Hill in Washington DC for wanting to take advantage of old political ties. Both are Oklahomans and the man they will be lobbying is Scott Pruitt, new chief at the Environmental Protection Agency, a former colleague. Former Oklahoma …
Updating the fight against the Obama Clean Power Plan by Oklahoma and other states, the D.C. Circuit court suggested it might be a few more weeks before it rules on the lawsuits. Ten judges are hearing the case and they set a March 20 deadline for briefs to be filed in a secondary dispute …
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt turned some heads Thursday morning when he declared carbon dioxide is not a primary contributor to global warming. It’s the answer he gave when questioned during an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there’s …
As Scott Pruitt enters week three of his rein over the Environmental Protection Agency, environmentalists are still curious as to what kind of enforcement of environmental laws he will demand and carry out. As Environment and Energy reporter Mike Soraghan wrote this week, “Pruitt’s philosophy on environmental enforcement is mostly unknown. He doesn’t have much …
An EPA program aimed at improving energy ratings in homes and offices across the country could be eliminated under a White House preliminary budget proposal. The Energy Star program, which includes Oklahoma’s state government as well as utilities could get the axe as the Trump administration seeks ways to save money and finance the President’s …
Oklahoma U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe has some support in a move to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from enforcing what he calls a “midnight” regulation requiring chemical storage information be made available to the public. Together with Sens. John Cornyn of Texas, John Barrasso of Wyoming, Jerry Moran of Kansas and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, …
As the new leader of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt has indicated he wants to make clearing long-term Superfund sites from the EPA’s national list. It’s what he recently told the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Washington D.C. Pruitt drew applause when he said one program that has been successful and will …
Didn’t take Scott Pruitt long to act on a request by Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter and 10 others to put an end to the 4-month old EPA methane regulation adopted by the Obama Administration against the oil and gas industry. On Thursday, one day after getting a letter from Hunter and the other attorneys …
Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter didn’t skip a beat and picked up where former AG and now EPA Director Scott Pruitt left off in challenging the Environmental Protection Agency. Hunter joined attorneys general from 10 other states this week in filing a request with Pruitt to suspend the Obama administration’s regulations aimed at lowering methane …
