Senate Confirms Oklahoma AG Scott Pruitt as Environment Chief Under Trump

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency is now on a collision course with itself.The impending clash comes after the Senate 52-46 voted Friday, along mostly party lines, to confirm Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt — a climate change skeptic who's long battled the agency in court — as the department's new administrator.His stated mission is simple: Rein in an agency that many Republicans feel has far overstepped its bounds in pursuing a robust regulatory agenda."Change is badly needed at the Environmental Protection Agency, and Scott Pruitt will be that change," said Sen. John Barrasso, the Wyoming Republican who leads the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.The confirmation, backed by Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, jolts to life an environmental agenda from President Donald Trump that has so far been more talk than action. And it should soon reveal the exact course the new administration plans to take on climate.  Continue reading...