WASHINGTON, DC – Over a hundred conservative leaders issued a movement-wide statement on Friday, which begins, “Conservatives stand behind Scott Pruitt as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and thank him for the significant actions he has taken to implement President Trump’s deregulatory agenda.”
“President Trump campaigned on reducing Washington’s bureaucracy, and Administrator Pruitt has been instrumental to that effort,” continues the Conservative Action Project’s (CAP) Memo for the Movement, entitled Conservatives Stand with EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “His leadership has helped President Trump keep his promises in a number of critical areas which conservatives support.”
The CAP Memo runs through eight major items Pruitt has accomplished over the past year, including:
- Rolling back President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan, a set of regulations that was estimated to cost 400,000 American jobs and reduce our nation’s gross domestic product by $2.5 trillion.
- Addressing EPA’s overly broad Waters of the United States rule, which threatened private property rights by considering even ditches that occasionally fill with rain as areas subject to federal jurisdiction.
- Revising the Obama-era fuel economy standards which were estimated to increase new car prices by $3,800 per vehicle, while providing negligible climate benefits.
- Making EPA more transparent by no longer allowing the use of “secret science” in developing federal regulations, instead requiring that the agency make the data and methodology of studies used in rulemaking available to the public.
- Acting as the Cabinet’s lead advocate for withdrawing the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, an illegal treaty estimated to cost American families thousands of dollars in lost income while only reducing global temperatures by less than 0.2 degrees.
- Ending the EPA’s sue-and-settle agreements, which radical environmentalists have manipulated for years to use taxpayer money to dictate energy and environmental policy.
Led by former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese III and CAP Chairman Alfred Regnery, the 113 signatories include an all-star lineup from every part of President Trump’s base:
- Former U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC)
- Former Ambassador and Secretary Ken Blackwell (R-OH)
- David Bossie, Citizens United
- Tony Perkins, Family Research Council and the Council for National Policy
- Jenny Beth Martin, Tea Party Patriots
- Tom Fitton, Judicial Watch
- Becky Norton Dunlop, Heritage Foundation
- Bill Walton, CNP Action
- Michael Needham, Heritage Action
- Rick Manning, Americans for Limited Government
- John Eastman, Chapman University
- Gary Bauer, American Values
- Lisa Nelson, American Legislative Exchange Council
- Elaine Donnelly, Center for Military Readiness
- Susan Carleson, American Civil Rights Union
- Austin Ruse, C-Fam
- Jerry Johnson, National Religious Broadcasters
- James Dobson Focus on the Family
- David McIntosh, Club for Growth
- Brent Bozell, Media Research Center
“Overall, Administrator Pruitt has finalized 22 deregulatory actions, saving American families and businesses more than $1 billion in costs,” the CAP Memo continues. “He is critical to President Trump’s efforts to streamline agency efforts in a way that assists American families and the economy.”
“We applaud President Trump for his appointment of Scott Pruitt and support his continued tenure at the EPA,” the leaders conclude.
Ken Klukowski is senior legal editor for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @kenklukowski.