Story highlights Jeb Bush: In 2016, the American people were clamoring for a dramatic shift of power

He says Scott Pruitt is the right choice to head the EPA

Jeb Bush is the former governor of Florida and was a candidate for the GOP nomination for president in 2016. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.

(CNN) When Scott Pruitt and I assembled a Restoring Federalism Task Force last year, he headlined the plan: "Putting Washington In Its Place." Those five words sum up exactly what the American people were clamoring for in this election: a dramatic shift of power out of a broken Washington and back into the hands of the people.

Jeb Bush

I cannot think of a person more suited to lead the Environmental Protection Agency than Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, someone who understands how to rein in an out-of-control bureaucracy and ensure that Washington focuses solely on its core functions.

Pruitt and I share a common vision for empowering the states and limiting the intrusion of the federal government in every area of our lives. He understands that a government closest to the people is best able to serve their interests.

Our country has been held back over the past eight years because the appropriate balance between federal and state powers has become totally skewed. Individual liberty and our constitutional order have been threatened. People's aspirations have been capped by a federal government that overextended its reach, and in no place has this been more apparent than at the EPA. The EPA has become a one-agency job killer, putting working people out of a job and increasing costs for everyone.

The far left has tried to distort Pruitt's views in a lame attempt to make him into an anti-science boogeyman. The Scott Pruitt I know is far from it. Unlike liberals who want to shut down any rational debate about climate change, Pruitt has acknowledged human impact on the climate and supports a robust discussion about its effects and what the government should and shouldn't do to address it.

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