- It's been almost a year since Scott Pruitt took over the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Fusion's Investigative team went to Oklahoma to see what mark he left on the environment there. Here's a glimpse of what we found.
- When President Trump chose Oklahoma's Attorney General Scott Pruitt as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, he tapped a politician renowned for his hostility toward environmental regulation to police the nation's worst polluters. "For too long, the Environmental Protection Agency has spent taxpayer dollars on an out-of- control anti-energy agenda that has destroyed millions of jobs, while also undermining our incredible farmers and many other businesses and industries at every turn," declared President Trump when he appointed Pruitt. During Pruitt's six years as Oklahoma's attorney general, critics say that he did little to protect the environment, but instead bowed to corporations and special interests putting Oklahomans at risk. In fact, Pruitt dismantled the attorney general's environmental protection unit shortly after taking office. During that time, Oklahomans tell us the air got dirtier, water became more undrinkable, and earthquakes continued to rock the state. Communities with respiratory issues are found statewide. Many attribute high rates of cancer to living side-by-side with industry. Oil production has nearly doubled in Oklahoma since early 2010 to an annual rate of 120 million barrels and natural gas production is up nearly 50%. But the harvesting of oil and gas comes at a high cost. During Pruitt's time as Attorney General, Oklahoma became more seismically active than the state of California. Geologists say the quakes are man-made, caused by the injection of waste water into the ground, a byproduct of extracting oil and gas through hydraulic fracturing. Activists are calling for the corporations to take responsibility for all of the earthquake damage. Fusion's year-long investigation into Pruitt's stewardship in Oklahoma found a state struggling with several environmental disasters. We take viewers to Oklahoma to see how Pruitt's record and cozy relationship with the oil and gas industry affects real people. Oklahoma has long been a microcosm of what might happen to the nation if we allow the energy companies to set the rules for environmental protection. Correspondent Natasha Del Toro meets people across the state who say they have suffered at the hands of this corporate disregard for the environment and public health. This journey will reveal a troubling agenda for Pruitt's tenure as administrator of the EPA.
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