Dec 12, 2016 09:49 PM EST By Beth Golden, UniversityHerald Reporter

The next American commander-in-chief continues to shock with his unorthodox picks for cabinet posts. Mr. Trump recently announced his choice to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Oklahoma's attorney general and climate change denialist Scott Pruitt.

After a meeting with former vice president Al Gore was made public, environment advocates were hopeful that President-elect Trump has had a change of heart about his stance against climate change efforts set by President Barack Obama. With the pending appointment of Scott Pruitt, they just lost all hope.

According to the New York Times, Scott Pruitt is a close ally of gas and oil companies in Oklahoma and has been staunchly fighting against the Obama administration's environmental policies arguing that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to fighting climate change and that scientists couldn't even agree between themselves on a number of things about the climate change phenomenon.

With this in mind he formed an alliance with some of the country's top energy producers to push back against Obama and his environmental protection agenda. Arguing that as attorney general, it is part of his job to protect Oklahoma including its energy-driven economy from the potential damage the mandatory environmental policies enforced by overreaching agencies like the EPA. Further contending that environmental regulation should not be regulated by the federal government and should be managed within the state levels.

Pruitt's work resulted in a 28-state case against President Barack Obama's environmental policies currently awaiting decision from Federal Court although observers agree that this will eventually be escalated to the Supreme Court.

Mr. Trump has threatened to dismantle the EPA and cancel the Paris accord saying that the facts and findings that documents human contribution to global warming a hoax. While repealing these policies may be easier said than done, Ronald Keith Gaddie, a professor of political science at the University of Oklahoma thinks that the EPA under Pruitt will see lesser regulation from the federal government and delegating these functions to the states.

Senator Bernie Sanders, part of the confirmation committee said that he will strongly oppose Scott Pruitt to lead the EPA saying that climate change is a critical threat to the entire planet and having Pruitt at the help of EPA is perilous.

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