I don't hang with polluters; I prosecute them.
— Scott Pruitt
I am a firm believer that federal agencies exist to administer laws passed by Congress, as intended.
I cut my teeth on religious liberty issues.
When you hang around people who believe in you, it kind of uplifts your spirit a little bit. And you can see great things happen.
I might not like a statute... but if you know what to expect, you can plan. The law is static. It's stable. It gives you confidence. You know you have to act a certain way.
There is a reason to have an agency called the EPA, and it has served an historical purpose I believe is vital to this country.
There is a reason and a need to have an Environmental Protection Agency.
Congress passes statutes, and those statutes are very clear on the job EPA has to do.
I think executive orders with Donald Trump would be a very blunt instrument with respect to the Constitution.
I think the most grievous threat that we have today is this imperialistic judiciary, this judicial monarchy that has it wrong on what the First Amendment's about and has an objective to create religious sterility in the public square, which is wholly inconsistent with the Founding Fathers' view.
America's infrastructure was once the envy of the world.
Our roads and bridges form the essence of interstate commerce in this country and have for some time.
Like the invention of the printing press before it, the Internet has been the greatest instrumentality of free speech and the exchange of ideas in the history of mankind.
Americans who want a healthy and clean environment expect lawful, effective, and economically sound regulation - the Clean Power Plan failed on all three counts.
My battles have been against federal actions that exceed the powers our Founders granted to the federal government in the constitution.
The federal government must retreat from its hyperactive involvement in areas traditionally under states' authority and refuse future temptations to regulate and legislate on every issue that happens to come to mind.
There simply is no greater threat to individual liberty and the viability of our great nation than the threat that comes from the continued consolidation of power in Washington, a consolidation that flies in the face of the division of power between the federal government and the states that is required by the Constitution.
We can be about jobs and growth and be good stewards of our environment.
Now having the honor of working for him, it is abundantly clear that President Trump is the most consequential leader of our time.
We're a small state. Our quantity of representation in Washington is not as large as a Texas, an Ohio, or a New York. So when decisions are made on the federal level, our voice can get drowned out.
I spent many hours in the batting cage. I remember many days when my hands were pretty cut up and bleeding.
Our religious freedoms are under constant attack from a variety of groups who seek to undermine our constitutional rights and threaten our founding principles.
There are air-quality issues that cross state lines. There are water-quality issues, obviously, that cross state lines.
Safety and health of water is clearly a compelling government interest.
Agencies exist to administer the law.
I believe that Donald Trump in the White House would be more abusive to the Constitution than Barack Obama, and that's saying a lot.
Our First Amendment should preserve the right of Hindus and Muslims to practice their faith.
EPA's role is even broader than water infrastructure and cleaning up contaminated land - the agency also has a key role in allowing projects to move forward by reviewing environmental impact statements during the permitting process.
When I took office in 2011, I made a commitment that the Office of Attorney General would find ways to do more while spending fewer taxpayer dollars.
In our constitutional system, states are free to make decisions and bear the political consequences, good or bad, of those choices.
We should not have to choose between supporting jobs and supporting the environment.
We need a president willing to embrace the idea that Washington is not the answer to all, or even most, of our problems, regardless of who is in charge.
It is hubris that has gotten us into trouble in Washington. It is humility, principled leadership, and unwavering faith in the power of the states, the people, and our Constitution that will get us out.
Since my election as Oklahoma attorney general in 2010, I have been a proud member of a group of federalism-minded state attorneys general who have methodically, indeed relentlessly, worked to restore the proper balance of power between the federal government and the states.
What is true environmentalism? I think it's environmental stewardship - not prohibition.
No one has done more to advance the rule of law than President Trump.
I think that the more we, as a state, yield and cede decisions to the federal government, the lesser we'll be for it as a state.
There are issues the EPA should be dealing with. When I talk about the EPA and its role with the states, it's not an abolitionist view, that we don't need that agency. It's that the agency should act within the outlines established by Congress.
Few things are as sacred and as fundamental to Oklahomans as the constitutional rights of free speech and the free exercise of religion.
The EPA has performed a very important role for us all.
We are blessed with great national resources, and we should be good stewards of those.
There is no reason why EPA's role should ebb and flow based on a particular administration or a particular administrator.
If you can tell me what gun, type of gun, I can possess, then I didn't really get that right to keep and bear arms from God. It was not bequeathed to me; it was not unalienable, right?
There aren't sufficient scientific facts to establish the theory of evolution, and it deals with the origins of man, which is more from a philosophical standpoint than a scientific standpoint.
Lead poisoning is an insidious menace that robs our citizens of their fullest potential.
As Oklahomans, we believe in bold entrepreneurship and good stewardship.
EPA can and should now focus on getting real results in the fight for clean air, land, and water.
Thankfully, President Trump has made clear: The regulatory assault on American workers is over.
It is no secret that Washington, D.C., is a tempest of people and institutions relentlessly seeking power over the lives of everyday Americans.
The last thing we need in Washington is more federal hubris.
