Trump's EPA Pick May Struggle To Dismantle Obama's Environmental Legacy

"Scott Pruitt, Donald Trump's pick to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has fought President Barack Obama’s measures to curb climate change at every turn as attorney general of Oklahoma. Now he is hoping to take apart Obama's environmental legacy from the inside out, a task that could prove tougher than it sounds.

Legal experts and former EPA officials said Pruitt could score some early easy wins in January, killing regulations the Obama administration rushed through during his final months in office, such as the agency's rule to curb methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.

That is because a little-used law called the Congressional Review Act allows Congress to erase such 'midnight' rules with a simple majority vote, something that should come easily in the Republican-controlled Congress."

Valerie Volcovici and David Shepardson report for Reuters December 9, 2016.