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Short open letter to Pat Toomey on Scott Pruitt and Climate Change

Senator Pat Toomey of PA just wrote back to me:

Thank you for contacting me about the nomination of Scott Pruitt as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator. I appreciate hearing your thoughts on this matter.

As you know, on December 7, 2016, President Trump announced his intention to nominate Scott Pruitt to serve as the next EPA Administrator. Currently, Mr. Pruitt is the Oklahoma Attorney General and, among other things, he has been involved in litigation on various environmental matters.

Now that the Senate confirmation process for Mr. Pruitt has begun, I value knowing your views about this nomination. I believe that the Senate’s constitutional role in providing advice and consent for presidential appointments is important, and all nominees deserve careful and thorough consideration. As you may know, I supported many of President Obama’s nominees and will support well qualified nominees selected by President Trump as well.

Also, while I have supported sensible environmental protections, I am concerned about the excessive regulations coming out of the EPA in recent years that needlessly impede job creation and hurt the pocketbooks of hard-working Pennsylvanians. Under the Obama Administration, the EPA was especially aggressive in proposing new rules that raised energy prices, imposed onerous compliance costs, undermined economic growth, and put Pennsylvanians out of work. I am hopeful that the next EPA Administrator will take a new direction and pursue a more balanced approach that is mindful of both our economy as well as our environment.

Thank you again for your correspondence. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I can be of assistance.

My quick response from cell phone on my lunch break:

Senator Toomey,
The clean energy industry has the ability to create lots of jobs and save humanity at the same time. It’s important that we have sensible regulations that limit carbon emissions. The end of a livable climate on Earth isn’t worth a small dollar savings.
Pruitt doesn’t accept climate change, will work to benefit oil industry, and will help cause the end of humanity.
He is the opposite of a qualified candidate. A vote for Pruitt will put you on the wrong side of history and is a disservice to the lives of the people you represent.
Please support expanding clean energy jobs in PA to achieve your stated goal.
Do you understand and accept that humans are playing a huge role in limiting the time we have for a livable Earth?
Please, on this issue, do the right thing for humanity, and not the oil industry that gives you money.
Extremely concerned,
Brian Sapient