President-elect Donald Trump has selected Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, a leader of the legal effort to fight President Obama's climate change regulations, to run the Environmental Protection Agency.
Pruitt, a Republican, is a close ally of the fossil fuel industry and has been a strong voice in the pushback against Obama's EPA regulations, especially his administration's climate change rules.
The Oklahoma attorney general, who the New York Times described as a "hero to conservative activists," is one of the Republican attorneys general who formed an alliance with the country's top energy producers to put a stop to Obama's regulatory agenda.
Pruit, along with Greg Abbott of Texas, planned a legal effort starting in 2014 to counter the Obama administration's string of regulations, including on climate change. Their efforts resulted in a 28-state lawsuit against Obama's climate change rules, which is expected to move to the Supreme Court.
The lawsuit is currently pending in federal court.