American Farm Bureau calls Trump's choice to head EPA 'welcome news'

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall recently praised President-elect Donald Trump's choice of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“President-elect Trump's selection of Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency is welcome news to America's farmers and ranchers – in fact, to all who are threatened by EPA's regulatory overreach – and should help provide a new degree of fairness for U.S. agriculture," Duvall said in a statement. "We anticipate that as EPA administrator, Pruitt will listen to our concerns and those of others who work with the nation's natural resources on a daily basis."

Pruitt was one of several state attorneys general who filed suit against the EPA in 2015 to halt the agency from implementing the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule that would expand the authority of the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers under the Clean Water Act.

“Agriculture is a profession based on a solid ethic of conservation,” Duvall said. “It helps guide everything we do, and we expect that Pruitt will understand that in regulatory matters dealing with agriculture and the environment."

Trump said earlier this month that Pruitt would bring his expertise in constitutional law to the post and that Pruitt understands the impact of regulations on the environment and the economy.