Farm bureau repeats its support of Pruitt to head EPA

The American Farm Bureau Federation recently said it is continuing to support President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination for Environmental Protection Agency chief.

AFBF President Zippy Duvall had previously expressed his approval of Trump’s choice, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, to head the agency but reiterated that support in a recent letter to Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY) and its ranking member, Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), according to a posting on the AFBF website.

In the letter, Duvall recounted how Pruitt challenged the EPA’s Waters of the U.S. rule “(defending) bipartisan view of Congress that the agency has illegally overstepped its bounds and ignored the U.S. Supreme Court.”

The letter also referenced Pruitt’s work to defend Congress over the Clean Power Plan by taking the position “that Congress has not authorized the sweeping attempt by EPA to coerce action by the states.”

Duvall also said in the letter that farmers and ranchers in recent years have suffered under unnecessary and, too often, unlawfu, federal regulations promulgated by the EPA. “We desperately need an administrator who understands the challenges our farmers and ranchers face in producing safe, wholesome and affordable food for our nation and the world," the letter said.

“Scott Pruitt will restore respect for the law and enforce it fairly,” Duvall said. “He understands how and when federal power should be exercised. We support him because he has demonstrated a keen understanding of the devastating economic implications of federal overreach."

“Scott Pruitt will put the EPA back on track and ensure that federal decisions are based on sound science, not politics. He will produce a fair regulatory environment that respects the rule of law,” Duvall concluded.