"We’re going to do the work that congress has said we must do … with a keen attention to rule of law," he said.
Pruitt said that unlike the Obama Administration that saw states only as vessels of the will of the Federal government, the EPA under President Trump will operate under the principles of federalism and partner with states instead of enacting environmental policy with lawsuits.
"States care about the air they breathe and the water they drink. We’re going to be partners with those states and not adversaries," he said.
Despite his opposition to EPA involvement in climate change research, Pruitt said the EPA still has important work to do, including protecting air and water quality and cleaning up 'Superfund' radioactive and chemical disaster sites.
Pruitt previously served as the Attorney General of Oklahoma and was responsible for prosecuting fourteen lawsuits against the EPA.
Democrats have accused Pruitt of being too close to the fossil fuel industry and have criticized him for his refusal to recuse himself from those lawsuits, in which he is now both plaintiff and defendant.
