WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Pruitt took the oath of the office on Friday evening, after the US Senate confirmed his nomination in a 52-46 vote.
Pruitt, an avowed climate-change skeptic has been a vocal critic of the EPA policies and has filed more than a dozen lawsuits against the agency for imposing rules on his oil-producing state. He promised to run the agency "in a way that fosters both responsible protection of the environment and freedom for American businesses."
Of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominations, Pruitt’s is among the most controversial. Environmental groups sharply criticized Pruitt, saying his anti-EPA litigation and rejection of the scientific consensus about climate change make him unfit to serve as the agency’s administrator.
