In letter, former Arkansas attorney general praises Trump's nominee for EPA administrator

Dustin McDaniel in 2014. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)
Dustin McDaniel in 2014. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)

Former Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel is praising President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for head of the Environmental Protection Agency.

In a letter dated Wednesday and submitted to the chairman and ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, McDaniel lauded the record of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt and said some of Pruitt's work has been the subject of "unfair criticisms" after he was announced as Trump's EPA pick. Pruitt's confirmation hearing before the panel was scheduled Wednesday.

McDaniel said recent accounts have mischaracterized an agreement between Arkansas and Oklahoma reached after a 10-year plan to reduce phosphorous levels in the Illinois River watershed fell short of its goal.

"[Pruitt] was a staunch defender of sound science and
 good policy as the appropriate tools to protect the environment of his state," McDaniel wrote. "I saw firsthand how General Pruitt was able to bridge political divides and manage multiple agency agendas
 to reach an outcome that was heralded by most credible observers as both positive and historic."

McDaniel, a Democrat, announced in 2012 that he was running for Arkansas governor, but dropped out in 2013 after acknowledging he had an extramarital affair.

In the letter supporting Pruitt, McDaniel noted he is a member of the Democratic National Committee, supported Hillary Clinton for president and believes that "climate change is real and overwhelmingly the result of human activity."

Pruitt is a Republican who was elected Oklahoma attorney general in 2010 and reelected in 2014.

Read Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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