Open Letter Supporting Scott Pruitt for EPA Administrator

Open Letter Supporting Scott Pruitt for EPA Administrator

January 5, 2017

Dear President-elect Donald J. Trump:

We write to you as evangelical and mainline Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Jewish scientists, economists, legal scholars, policy experts, and religious leaders in support of your nomination of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to the office of Administrator of the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA has the crucial task of writing and enforcing regulations that apply statutes passed by Congress and signed by the President to protect the life and health of Americans. Its work necessarily integrates science, economics, law, politics, and ethics, all of which are rooted in religious worldviews. A good Administrator must demonstrate expertise in at least some of these, and mature understanding of and receptivity to the insights of all. Scott Pruitt does.

As Oklahoma Attorney General, Mr. Pruitt has demonstrated his legal expertise in successful litigation to require corporations—including the energy corporations so prominent in his state’s economy—to abide by environmental laws and regulations. He has publicly expressed his conviction that the EPA’s role is not to create law through regulations that exceed the scope of enabling legislation but to implement the intent of that legislation and nothing more. That is, he recognizes that environmental policy should be determined by the people’s elected representatives, not by unelected, unaccountable members of the federal bureaucracy. He has also publicly opposed the abuse of the court system by use of “sue-and-settle” to reach sweetheart deals between the EPA and environmental advocacy groups. These are some of the obvious ways in which his legal expertise qualifies him for Administrator.

Mr. Pruitt has also demonstrated understanding of and open-mindedness toward scientific insights crucial to the formulation and implementation of environmental regulation. He is prepared to hear all sides in debates over the risks and benefits of various activities that come under the purview of the EPA.

Finally, as a committed evangelical Christian, Mr. Pruitt has an unbending commitment to human life and health, especially to the protection of the most vulnerable in society. We are pleased to note that a large group of religious leaders, including presidents of some of America’s largest and most prestigious theological seminaries, has also written to you in his support for this reason, and we add our voices to theirs.

Some radical environmentalists and religious activists oppose Mr. Pruitt because he does not embrace their exaggerated fears of human-induced global warming—fears that go well beyond the empirical evidence crucial to genuine science—or their antipathy to the development of the abundant, reliable, affordable energy indispensable to lifting and keeping whole societies out of poverty and the disease and premature death that invariably accompany it. We urge you therefore to stand firmly behind your nominee, and we commit ourselves to supporting him in the confirmation process that lies ahead. We welcome you and your Administration to call on us to assist in any way we can.

Sincerely,

[Institutional associations are for identification only and do not imply institutional endorsement.]

Gary L. Anderson, MA
(History)
Colonel, USAF (retired)
Aviation and Civil Engineering
Fruita, CO

William D. Balgord, Ph.D.
(Geochemistry)
President
Environmental & Resources Technology, Inc.
Middleton, WI

Paul Barber, B.S.
(Civil Engineering)
President of the Board
Barber Brothers Contracting Co. LLC
Baton Rouge, LA

Albrecht Glatzle, Ph.D.
(Agriculture)
Retired, Director of Research,
INTTAS
(Iniciativa para la Investigación y Transferencia
de Tecnologia Agraria Sostenible)
Filadelfia, Paraguay

Mark Coppenger, Ph.D.
(Philosophy)
Professor of Christian Apologetics
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Louisville, KY

Victoria Blodgett
New England Regional Director
Aglow International
Southbridge, MA

James A. Borland, Th.D.
Theology, Professor of Theology
Liberty University
Lynchburg, VA

Thomas H. Wysmuller, B.A.
Meteorologist, NASA (Ret.);
Chair, Water Day 2013
UNESCO IHE
Water Research Institute
Delft, The Netherlands;
Chair, Oceanographic Section, 2016
World Congress of Ocean
Qingdao, China;
NASA TRCS charter member
Ogunquit, ME

Ronald S. Carson, Ph.D.
(Nuclear Engineering)
Affiliate Assistant Professor
University of Washington; retired
Technical Fellow The Boeing Company;
Adjunct Professor
Seattle Pacific University;
Renton, WA

Timothy Beard, Th.M.
(Theology)
retired missionary/pastor
Calvary Bible Church
Toppenish, WA

Donald R. Crowe, P.E., B.S.
(Mechanical Engineering)
Founder & President
The Absaroke Corporation
Plantation, FL

Terry W. Donze, B.S.
(Geological Engineering)
author, Climate Realism:
Alarmism Exposed
Wheat Ridge, CO

John Freeman, B.S.
(Engineering)
AFTS
retired Anglican priest, Hillcrest
KwaZulu Natal, South Africa

Kenneth Chilton, Ph.D.
(Economics)
retired Associate Professor of Management
and Director of the Institute for
Study of Economics and the Environment
Lindenwood University
St. Louis, MO

Peter Jones, Ph.D. (Theology)
Director, truthXchange, Escondido, CA;
Emeritus Professor of New Testament
Westminster Theological Seminary
Escondido, CA

Roger L. Burtner, Ph.D.
(Geology)
former National Science Foundation Fellow;
former Adjunct Professor
Case Western Reserve University;
Principal, Remote Sensing Exploration
Fullerton CA

Martin P. Fricke, Ph.D.
(Nuclear Physics)
Senior Fellow
American Physical Society
San Diego, CA

William Zmistowski, Jr.
AIA, NCARB, IIDA, B.S.
(Architecture, Land Planning
Urban Design, Environmental Design)
International Design Consultant
Boulder, CO

Klaus Issler, Ph.D.
(Education)
Professor of Discipleship and Theology
Talbot School of Theology
Biola University
La Mirada, CA

Eugene S. Harsh, M.S.
(Meteorology)
Lt. Col. USAF (Retired)
Colorado Springs, CO

Bernard Kepshire, Ph.D.
(Fisheries Science)
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Oregon State University (retired)
Corvallis, OR

Jay Grimstead, D.Min.
(Theology)
Founder/Director, Coalition on Revival;
Founder, International Council on
Biblical Inerrancy Coordinator,
International Church Council Project
Murphys, CA

C. Keister, Ph.D.
(Physics)
Pharmaceutical Research Specialist
3M Company (retired)
Lakeville, MN

Joseph Farah
Founder and CEO
WND.com
WND Books
and WND Films

Franklin Ed Payne, M.D.
Associate Professor
Medical College of Georgia
Augusta University
Augusta, GA (retired); co-founder
Journal of Biblical Ethics in Medicine

Richard S. Lindzen, Ph.D.
(Applied Mathematics)
Alfred P. Sloan Professor of
Atmospheric Sciences Emeritus, MIT
Cambridge, MA

Vicki P. Goodman, B.S.
(Engineering)
Retired Applications Engineer
Prescott, AZ

William Happer, Ph.D.
Cyrus Fogg Brackett
Professor of Physics
Emeritus, Princeton University

Ron Heffield, M.M.
(Bible)
Pastor, New Life
Community Church
Orlando, FL

Matt Mackowiak, B.S.
(Communication Studies)
Executive Director
Fight For Tomorrow
Austin, TX, and Washington, DC

Rev Irfon Hughes, M.Div.
Co-Pastor
Shiloh Orthodox Presbyterian Church
Raleigh NC

Richard Land, D.Phil.
(Theology)
President, Southern Theological Seminary
Charlotte, NC

Mark P. Martin, LCSW-C
(Social Work)
Clinical Social Worker
Brook Lane Health Services
Hagerstown, MD

Willes K. Lee
President
National Federation
of Republican Assemblies

Robert J. Romano, D.Min.
(Economic Ethics)
Founder Heartist Ministries;
AIA Design-Build Architect
Charlotte, NC

David H. Lester, Ph.D.
(Chemical Engineering)
retired
Fox Island, WA

Anthony R. Lupo, Ph.D.
(Atmospheric Science)
Professor, University of Missouri
Columbia, MO

Jeffrey Mahn, M.S.
(Nuclear Engineering)
Sandia National Laboratories
(Retired)
Albuquerque, NM

Tracy Miller, Ph.D.
(Economics)
Falls Church, VA

William G. Moore, Ph.D.
(Church History)
Pastor
Cornerstone Baptist Church
Clinton, SC

Barry L. Myers, Ph.D.
(Computer Science)
Associate Professor of Computer Science and
Chair Mathematics and Computer Science Department
Northwest Nazarene University
Nampa, ID

George Paul, Ph.D.
(Physics)
MBA, Senior Lecturer in Physics
University of New South Wales (retired)
consultant
Intellectual Property
Sydney, NSW, Australia

Philip Pennance, Ph.D.
(Chemical Physics)
M.SC. (Geophysics)
Professor of Mathematics
University of Puerto Rico
Río Piedras, Puerto Rico

Jay W. Richards, Ph.D.
(Philosophy)
Research Professor
Catholic University of America
Washington, DC

Caleb Stewart Rossiter, Ph.D.
(Policy Analysis)
Adjunct Professor, American University
Washington, DC

James H. Rust, Ph.D.
(Engineering)
Professor of Nuclear Engineering (retired)
Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA;
policy advisor, The Heartland Institute
Chicago, IL

Daryl Sas, Ph.D.
(Biology)
Professor of Biology, Geneva College
Beaver Falls, PA

David Shormann, Ph.D.
(Aquatic Science)
President, DIVE, LLC
Haleiwa, HI

Richard L. Sauer, M.S.
(Environmental Engineering)
Col., U.S. Air Force Reserve (ret.)
NASA (ret.)
League City, TX

Kelly Shackelford, J.D.
(Law) President and CEO
First Liberty Institute
Plano, TX

Roy W. Spencer, Ph.D.
(Meteorology)
Principal Research Scientist
Earth System Science Center
University of Alabama, Huntsville, AL
Lead Scientist, NASA Aqua AMSR-3
Satellite Remote Sensing Program

David J. Theroux, M.S.
(Mechanical Engineering)
M.B.A. (Business Economics)
Founder and President,
Independent Institute
Oakland, CA

Reverend Thomas Trouwborst,
M.B.A., M.Div.
Pastor, Calvary Orthodox
Presbyterian Church
Glenside, PA

Richard F. Storm, PE, CEM
retired engineer
Hilton Head, SC

Joseph Touhill, Ph.D.
(Environmental Engineering)
P.E., DEE, F. AIChE, F.ASCE
President, Touhill Technology Management
Jamison, PA

Benjamin Zycher, Ph.D.
(Economics)
John G. Searle Chair
American Enterprise Institute
Washington, DC

Jeffery J. Ventrella, J.D., Ph.D.
(Law)
Senior Counsel, Alliance Defending Freedom
Scottsdale, AZ

Carl Ermentrout
Philadelphia, PA

(All organizations listed for IDENTIFICATION purposes only)