Emissions

Scott Pruitt Seeking Certainty for Power Producers

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt was confirmed by U.S. lawmakers last month to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.

By Russell Ray, Chief Editor

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt was confirmed by U.S. lawmakers last month to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. Pruitt’s mission can be described in one word: Reform.

Pruitt, 48, is expected to restore balance between the economic concerns, reliability concerns and environmental concerns of power generation. As we see it, the scale has long been tilted toward the environmental concerns. The imbalance is a byproduct of misguided policies, unreasonable mandates and hardline interest groups.

We think Pruitt will provide pragmatic leadership for an industry in desperate need of a balanced, common-sense approach that recognizes all forms of power, including coal. Under the previous administration, U.S. power producers were effectively barred from building new, highly efficient coal-fired generation in the U.S., a draconian measure that endangers the reliability and affordability of the nation’s power supplies.

Navigating the regulatory maze is a complicated undertaking for power producers nowadays. Developing a sound, cost-effective strategy for compliance has been complicated by layers of new environmental rules and delays in implementation. One misstep can set a project back by years, costing power producers and their customers millions.

In his first address to EPA staff, Pruitt said he wants to end the confusion created by this regulatory chaos.

“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 that they can plan and allocate resources to comply.”

Pruitt described the political rhetoric surrounding his confirmation as a “toxic environment” and urged his critics outside and inside the EPA for civility in debating the issues we face as a nation.

“We ought to be able to get together and wrestle through some very difficult issues and do so in a civil manner,” Pruitt told agency staff. “I seek to be a good listener. I look forward to spending time with you. You can’t lead unless you listen.”

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt

Pruitt’s acumen for the issues facing power producers was demonstrated as he challenged many of the EPA’s rulemakings as Oklahoma’s attorney general. In July 2014, after the EPA unveiled the Clean Power Plan, Pruitt said the plan’s goals were arbitrary and failed to recognize the capabilities of power producers. He said then the EPA “should use an ‘inside the fence’ approach that allows each state to set emission standards for existing power plants by evaluating each unit’s ability to improve efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions in a cost-effective way.”

Although Pruitt’s nomination was contentious, it was never in jeopardy. The U.S. Senate voted 52-46 in support of Pruitt’s nomination.

As Oklahoma attorney general, Pruitt sued the agency he now leads more than a dozen times, claiming the agency was exceeding its authority. During his confirmation hearing, Democrats questioned his cooperation with Oklahoma’s energy industry in challenging EPA’s efforts to regulate pollutants under the Clean Air Act.

Pruitt told lawmakers the EPA is legally obligated to regulate pollutants under the CAA, but those measures, he said, represented an intrusion into state jurisdiction.

“We must reject as a nation the false paradigm that if you’re pro-energy you’re anti-environment, and if you’re pro-environment you’re anti-energy,” Pruitt told lawmakers.

Now that Pruitt has been confirmed, expect the new administration to enact more policy changes aimed at the producers of oil, natural gas and power generation. His first move will likely be rolling back the previous administration’s plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions, better known as the Clean Power Plan.

“This is a beginning. It’s a beginning for us to discuss certain principles by which I think this agency should conduct itself,” Pruitt said. “I look forward to leading this agency with those principles in mind.”

If you have a question or a comment, contact me at [email protected]. Follow me on Twitter @RussellRay1.

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