After an environmental roundtable at Save the Bay Monday morning, U.S. Sen. Jack Reed announced he is opposing the confirmation of Environmental Protection Agency nominee Scott Pruitt.

“Scott Pruitt has a record of undermining clean air and clean water protections and denying climate science,” said Reed.

Sen. Reed is on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior & Environment, overseeing funding for the EPA. He cited potential budget cuts to the agency as signaled by the head of President Trump’s EPA transition team, Myron Ebell, as a cause for concern.  

“If the Trump Administration follows through with its budget cuts, environmental roll backs, and patchwork regulation, the consequences for our state could be devastating,” said the senator.

Reed noted that without federal regulation and enforcement a state like Rhode Island could do little to combat cross-state pollution.