in Oklahoma saw
an opportunity to have their
concerns go directly to an
attorney general
whose, sort of,
ideological position on small
government and the promotion of
business through tax cuts
and other types of favourable
treatment really
aligned in a way that,
I think, worked out very well
for oil and gas companies
in Oklahoma.
>> Bob: Kristen van de Biezenbos
is an energy lawyer now
at the University Of Calgary.
But she watched Scott Pruitt
up close when she taught at the
University Of Oklahoma.
She says though
welcomed by Big Oil,
his election was a disaster for
protectors of the environment,
like the EPA.
>> He was known as somebody who
would not cooperate with the EPA
because he did not believe that
the EPA should play a role in
state regulation of
environmental issues.
He believed that should be
state jurisdiction only.
>> Bob: In fact, when he
became Attorney General,
Scott Pruitt disbanded
the state's
Environmental Protection Agency
altogether, and whenthe federal
EPA began investigating the
impact of fracking in Oklahoma,
Pruitt sent an official demand
that they cease and desist,
putting the needs of oil and
gas ahead of the environment.
And he wasn't done yet.
>> Pruitt sued the
Environmental Protection Agency
14 times during the time he was
the Oklahoma Attorney General,
so our whole government in
Oklahoma is now one that's
controlled by oil and gas.
[ ♪♪ ]
>> Bob: So, consider
Scott Pruitt's involvement
with TransCanada and the
Keystone XL pipeline.
Two of Keystone's biggest
boosters in Oklahoma are the
state's Big Oil companies,
whose products would use the
pipeline, Continental Resources
and Devon Energy,
both backers of Scott Pruitt's
election campaign.
An investigation by the
New York Times revealed
what it called a secret
alliance between Pruitt
and those oil and gas companies,
which sent directions to the
Oklahoma Attorney General
as to what he should
do and say to federal
officials about matters that
might adversely affect Big