WASHINGTON (AP) - Donald Trump's choice to head the Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that climate change is real, breaking with both the president-elect and his own past statements.
In response to questions from Democrats during his Senate confirmation hearing, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt said he disagreed with Trump's earlier claims global warming is a hoax created by the Chinese to harm the economic competitiveness of the United States.
"I do not believe climate change is a hoax," Pruitt said.
The 48-year-old Republican has previously cast doubt on the extensive body of scientific evidence showing the planet is warming and man-made carbon emissions are to blame. In a 2016 opinion article, Pruitt suggested the debate over global warming "is far from settled" and he claimed "scientists continue to disagree about the degree and extent of global warming and its connection to the actions of mankind."
At the hearing before the Senate Energy and Public Works Committee, Pruitt conceded human activity contributes "in some manner" to climate change. He continued, however, to question whether the burning of fossil fuels is the primary reason, and refused to say whether sea levels are rising.
Pruitt's testimony came shortly after NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a joint statement affirming 2016 was officially the hottest year in recorded history. Studies show the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have decreased in mass, while the world's oceans have risen on average nearly 7 inches in the last century.
Pressed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to answer in detail about his beliefs about climate change, Pruitt responded that his personal opinion was "immaterial" to how he would enforce environmental laws.
In his current post, Pruitt joined a multistate lawsuit opposing the Obama administration's plan to limit planet-warming carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. Pruitt also sued over the EPA's recent expansion of water bodies regulated under the Clean Water Act. It has been opposed by industries that would be forced to clean up polluted wastewater.
Pruitt said if were confirmed by the GOP-run Senate, he would work with states and industry to return the federal watchdog to what he described as its proper role.
"Environmental regulations should not occur in an economic vacuum," Pruitt said. "We can simultaneously pursue the mutual goals of environmental protection and economic growth."
Pruitt has a history of criticizing and suing the agency he is in line to lead. Environmentalists opposing his nomination cite his cozy relationships with oil and gas industry executives who have donated to his political campaigns.
As the hearing got underway, shouting could be heard from people who were not allowed in. The room accommodated fewer than 100 people; most seats were taken by congressional staff, reporters and others who were allowed in early. Only a few seats remained for the public.
One woman was quickly wrestled out of the room by three police officers as she pulled out a roll of yellow crime scene tape and shouted "We don't want EPA gutted!"