New EPA head Scott Pruitt’s emails reveal deep ties to fossil fuel interests

Emails released by the Oklahoma attorney general's office show a cozy relationship between energy companies and Scott Pruitt, who was the state's top prosecutor before being sworn in last week as the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency. The Center for Media and Democracy had sought the release of emails between energy companies and Pruitt for the past two years, saying they show energy companies drafted language that Pruitt's office then used in suing the EPA, the office he now heads, over regulations on energy operations.

The newly released emails reveal a close and friendly relationship between Scott Pruitt’s office and the fossil fuel industry, with frequent meetings, calls, dinners and other events.

Among the documents released were communications between Devon Energy and Pruitt's office that suggest the company gave the Oklahoma officials language on limits on methane emissions at oil and gas operations. Pruitt's office then used this wording in suing the EPA over the regulations, the documents suggest. Critics of Pruitt's nomination to head the EPA were concerned over his record on the environment — he sued the agency more than a dozen times on behalf of his oil-producing state and has doubted the science of climate change — and Democrats in the Senate held an all-night debate last week trying to stop his confirmation vote until the emails were released. He was confirmed on Friday with two Democrats from energy-producing states voting for him.