Head of Environmental Protection Agency tells staff he will ‘listen, learn, and lead’ as White House reportedly prepares orders to roll back green regulations

The new head of the US Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, told agency staff on Tuesday that the US should not have to choose between the economy and the environment.

As the White House reportedly prepares executive orders to roll back Obama-era green regulations, Pruitt struck a conciliatory tone in an address to agency staff, saying he would “listen, learn and lead”.

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“I believe that we as a nation can be both pro-energy and jobs, and pro-environment. We don’t have to choose between the two,” he said in his first speech to EPA workers since he was confirmed as administrator of the agency by the US Senate last week.

“I think our nation has done better than any nation in the world at making sure that we do the job of protecting our natural resources, and protecting our environment, while also respecting economic growth,” he told the room of about 70 staff at EPA headquarters in Washington.

Many Republican lawmakers view Pruitt, who sued the agency he now leads more than a dozen times as Oklahoma attorney general, as a refreshing change at the top of an agency they accuse of federal overreach and killing jobs.

But Democrats, environmental advocates and many of the EPA’s current and former staff worry his appointment signals a reversal in America’s progress cleaning up air and water and fighting global climate change. Nearly 800 former EPA officials signed a letter urging the Senate to reject his confirmation. Opponents argued that his ties to the fossil fuel industry and frequent lawsuits against the agency he now leads should disqualify him.

In his address to staff, Pruitt invoked the founding fathers Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton to urge compromise.

The political environment, he said, was “a very toxic environment” that is “damaging to the overall objective of finding results and answers to the very challenging issues we face as a country”.



Pruitt said he would lead the agency based on the principle of finding solutions and working toward solving problems.

“As we do our work here, we deal with very difficult monumental issues with respect to our future environment and natural resources. We must have the same kind of attitude of finding solutions and solving problems.”

He addressed the need for acting with civility in the exchange of ideas. “We ought to be able to get together and wrestle through difficult issues and do so in a civil manner.”

The EPA administrator said he would seek to listen to those under him: “You can’t lead unless you listen.” But he also called the agency to observe process and the rule of law.

Pruitt’s address comes as the Oklahoma attorney general’s office faces a court-ordered deadline to turn over its communications with fossil fuel companies to a watchdog group. Opponents believe the emails will show Pruitt’s close ties to the energy industry.



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Pruitt said that by following the rule of law, the agency could avoid litigation and the uncertainty that comes with it and said he would seek to ensure that the EPA engendered trust at the state level.

“Regulations ought to make things regular,” he said. “Regulators exist to give certainty to those that they regulate. Those that we regulate ought to know what’s expected of them so they can plan and allocate resources to comply.

“We need to avoid abuses, such as using the guidance process to engage in rule-making, or engaging regulation through litigation. We need to open and transparent in our rule-making.”

Reuters contributed to this report