News Releases from Headquarters›Office of the Administrator (AO)

Administrator Scott Pruitt Addresses EPA Staff

WASHINGTON--Today, U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt took to the stage greeted by the applause of career EPA employees in the agency’s historic Rachel Carson Green Room. Former acting administrator Catherine McCabe introduced the 14th administrator and made opening remarks, “Our new administrator has not only a record for public service, but also business experience that will serve him well as he undertakes the new responsibilities of our agency,” said Catherine McCabe. “We look forward to working with you.”

Administrator Pruitt thanked McCabe for her service to the agency and her leadership over the past month and opened his remarks with the following, “You don’t know me very well. In fact, you don’t know me hardly at all other than what you’ve read in the newspaper and seen on the news. I look forward to sharing the rest of the story with you as we spend time together. This is a beginning.  It’s a beginning for us to spend time and discuss certain principles by which I think this agency should conduct itself.” Reflecting on the time he spent earlier in the day greeting EPA career staff in his office, Administrator Pruitt said, “It was an honor and a joy to meet and spend time with the career people at EPA who are clearly very dedicated to their work.”

In forecasting his leadership approach, Mr. Pruitt said “I seek to listen, learn, and lead with you to address the issues we face as a nation. You can’t lead unless you listen. Civility is something I believe in very much. We ought to be able to get together and wrestle through some very difficult issues and do so in a civil manner,” Mr. Pruitt said.

Addressing his regulatory views, he said, “Regulations ought to make things regular. Regulators exist to give certainty to those that they regulate. Those that we regulate ought to know what we expect of them, so that they can plan and allocate resources to comply. That’s really the job of the regulator, and the process we engage in.” He continued, “I seek to ensure that we engender the trust of those at the state level, that those at the state level see us as partners and not as adversaries.”

In his closing remarks Mr. Pruitt addressed how growing the economy and protecting the environment can go hand in hand, “I believe that we as a nation can be both pro-energy and jobs, and pro-environment. We don’t have to choose between the two. I think our nation has done better than any nation in the world at making sure that we do the job of protecting our natural resources, and protecting our environment, while also respecting economic growth.”

Media Assets

Visit the Administrator’s social media pages:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EPAScottPruitt/

Twitter:  @EPAScottPruitt 

Administrator Pruitt’s biography: https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/epas-administrator

Photos of today’s speech: https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/photos-epa-administrator-scott-pruitt

Audio of the speech: email press@epa.gov

Video clips of the speech: https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/videos-epa-administrator-scott-Pruitt