A major concern I have about the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch involves the Environmental Protection Agency nominee, Oklahoman Scott Pruitt, a man who has sued the EPA 10 times on behalf of the energy industry in his state. He has already vowed to cut the EPA staff by two-thirds over the next four years.
So what does that have to do with Judge Gorsuch? The judge’s mother, Anne Gorsuch, was President Ronald Reagan’s EPA secretary from 1981-83. In that time, she rolled back the Clean Air and Clean Water acts, and slashed the EPA budget to reduce the ability of the department to carry out its mission, and then hired subordinates from the very industries the EPA was assigned to regulate. Anne Gorsuch was no friend of the environment.
If Judge Gorsuch becomes a Supreme Court justice, there will be lawsuits against the EPA. Will he honor his mother’s legacy or the law?
David Ohman
Denver
