Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, poised to take the helm at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which has jurisdiction over his nomination. Like Rep. Ryan Zinke in his testimony before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Pruitt said he doesn’t “believe climate change is a hoax” but demurred on the level to which human activity is the root cause.
“Science tells us that the climate is changing and that human activity in some manner impacts that change,” he testified. “The ability to measure with precision the degree and extent of that impact and what to do about it are subject to continuing debate and dialogue, and well it should be.” Last year, in an op-ed, Pruitt wrote that the climate debate is “far from settled. Scientists continue to disagree about the degree and extent of global warming and its connection to the actions of mankind.”
The EPA has a “very valuable role” Pruitt told the committee.