Trump's Choice To Lead EPA Has A History With The Agency

Donald Trump has tapped Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency. 

Pruitt has a long history with the EPA, but it's not a friendly one. 

SEE MORE: Ivanka Trump, Chief Climate Change Advocate?

Pruitt has argued against environmental regulations and played a role in the 28-state lawsuit against President Obama following his new effort to cut carbon emissions. 

Pruitt has called the EPA a "byzantine regulatory regime." He's also called any antagonism toward climate change nonbelievers "un-American."

Addressing climate change is one of the EPA's top priorities. But conservatives like Pruitt have accused the agency of federal overreach.

SEE MORE: OPEC Made A Deal To Cut Back Oil Production In 2017

"We believe that is a form of coercion by the EPA, forcing the states to take action — to do what? Accomplish the shifting of electricity generation to other sources," Pruitt said during a Federalist Society panel discussion. 

Trump's pick has been denounced by progressives as a step backward in the fight against climate change.