Understanding the President’s Cabinet: EPA Administrator
Religion & Liberty Online

Understanding the President’s Cabinet: EPA Administrator

Note: This is the post #24 in a weekly series of explanatory posts on the officials and agencies included in the President’s Cabinet. See the series introduction here.

Cabinet position: EPA Administrator

Department: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Current Administrator: Scott Pruitt

Department Mission: The mission of EPA is to protect human health and the environment. EPA’s purpose is to ensure that:

  • all Americans are protected from significant risks to human health and the environment where they live, learn and work;
  • national efforts to reduce environmental risk are based on the best available scientific information;
  • federal laws protecting human health and the environment are enforced fairly and effectively;
  • environmental protection is an integral consideration in U.S. policies concerning natural resources, human health, economic growth, energy, transportation, agriculture, industry, and international trade, and these factors are similarly considered in establishing environmental policy;
  • all parts of society — communities, individuals, businesses, and state, local and tribal governments — have access to accurate information sufficient to effectively participate in managing human health and environmental risks;
  • environmental protection contributes to making our communities and ecosystems diverse, sustainable and economically productive; and
  • the United States plays a leadership role in working with other nations to protect the global environment.

Department Budget: $8,058,488,000 (FY 2017)

Number of employees: 15,408

Primary Duties of the Administrator: Responsible for maintaining and enforcing national environmental laws and advising the president on environment related issues.

 

Administrator Info

Administrator: Scott Pruitt

Previous occupation: Attorney General for Oklahoma.

Education: BA in political science and communications from Georgetown College (KY) and J.D. from University of Tulsa College of Law.

Previous government experience: Served eight years in the Oklahoma State Senate.

Religious Affiliation: Baptist

Notable achievements:

• Was co-owner and the managing general partner of the Oklahoma City RedHawks, a AAA minor league baseball team.

•As Oklahoma Attorney General, he sued the EPA 14 times.

Previous and forthcoming posts in this series: Vice PresidentSecretary of StateSecretary of the TreasurySecretary of Education, Secretary of LaborSecretary of DefenseAttorney GeneralSecretary of the InteriorSecretary of AgricultureSecretary of CommerceSecretary of Health and Human ServicesSecretary of Housing and Urban DevelopmentSecretary of TransportationSecretary of EnergySecretary of Veterans AffairsSecretary of Homeland SecurityWhite House Chief of StaffU.S. Trade RepresentativeDirector of National IntelligenceRepresentative of the United States to the United NationsDirector of the Office of Management and BudgetDirector of the Central Intelligence Agency, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Administrator of the Small Business Administration

Joe Carter

Joe Carter is a Senior Editor at the Acton Institute. Joe also serves as an editor at the The Gospel Coalition, a communications specialist for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and as an adjunct professor of journalism at Patrick Henry College. He is the editor of the NIV Lifehacks Bible and co-author of How to Argue like Jesus: Learning Persuasion from History's Greatest Communicator (Crossway).