Issued January 18, 2017
WASHINGTON, D.C.—SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry issued the following statement following the hearing on Scott Pruitt’s nomination to lead the Environmental Protection Agency:
“In too many communities across America, our children and families struggle to thrive because of toxic air and water polluted by corporations that profit at the expense of our health and livelihoods. Once again, President-elect Trump’s choice of nominee has proven he will build a government of, by, and for corporations, not for the American people. Scott Pruitt has proven he is an ally of corporate polluters, is an avid climate change denier and has led the charge to unravel the very protections the EPA is charged to uphold.
“Working families and our communities do not need another corporate hack who will continue to rig the system to make their air and water worse, which is exactly what Pruitt has built his career on. As Oklahoma’s attorney general, Pruitt sought to dismantle basic clean air and water protections and was the architect of years of relentless attacks on the EPA, a cabinet agency established by Republican President Richard Nixon to protect our health and our air, water and land.
“The fight for environmental justice is inextricably linked to the fights for economic, immigrant and racial justice because the effects from climate change and environmental dangers disproportionately affect working people—particularly people of color—and their neighborhoods and jobs. The same profitable corporations that push down wages and make it harder for people to join together in unions also oppose any efforts to limit their ability to pollute our air and water. Scott Pruitt represents these corporations that profit from taking advantage of workers and the American people.
“SEIU members and our communities will continue coming together in broad movements to fight for a say in the economic and political system rigged against us by bad corporate actors and self-interested politicians. We will stay in the streets and continue mobilizing to fight back until we can return our economy and democracy into the rightful hands of the people, by the people, for the people.”