On Feb. 17, 2017, the Senate confirmed that Scott Pruitt will now head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He will dismantle a lot of the regulations on climate change and decrease the government’s authority to enforce environmental laws.

There are many reasons why Mr. Pruitt is not a suitable candidate. First of all, according to New York Times, he has close ties with the fossil fuel industry. His ties with the industry mean he may favor policies that will support the industry, disassemble a lot of regulations that limit them, and make policies very lenient in order to benefit them. A lot of the energy lobbyists (someone who persuades and influences legislators by joining an interest group) that work for coal, oil, and gas companies were one of Mr. Pruitt’s biggest contributors to his campaign. According to Huffington Post, Pruitt previously sued the EPA thirteen times to overturn policies on the limitation of air pollution and multiple other reasons, while he was Oklahoma’s attorney general showing his hostility towards the agency. Ironically, the man who was selected to head the EPA is also against it.

According to his LinkedIn page, Pruitt said he was a “leading advocate against the EPA’s activist agenda.” The EPA elect should be someone who believes and respects the environmental laws. Someone who is guided by science, rather than denying it (ex. climate change). Someone who cares about American’s health.

He has made false claims that fracking (the process to obtain oil or gas) doesn’t contaminate drinking water supplies, which is very false. According to BBC, Fracking fluid, inserted into the ground to break up the rocks and release the gas, contains a lot of dangerous chemicals like formaldehyde and radioactive tracers. These substances are extremely dangerous to our health; it is absurd for him to falsely claim that they aren’t. By denying climate change, he is ignoring the scientific data that proves it is true, and we must do something to decrease and slow down its effects.

The leader of the Environmental Protection Agency shouldn’t deny climate change or be against his own organization. Scott Pruitt is simply not fit for this job.