Greenies are freaking out over Donald Trump’s selection of Scott Pruitt for EPA director, because he recognizes there are tradeoffs between costs and benefits in regulating economic activity to protect the environment. Timothy Cama of The Hill:

 Pruitt has been a legal opponent of President Obama over nearly every major regulation and executive action, not only on environmental issues but also ObamaCare, immigration and bathroom use by transgender people. 

Pruitt has led litigation against Obama’s landmark climate rule for power plants, as well as water regulations and standards for ground-level ozone pollution, haze, methane and more. 

As EPA head, Pruitt would help carry out Trump’s campaign promises to repeal Obama’s entire executive climate change agenda, including the Clean Power Plan, which the president-elect said he will target in his first 100 days in office.

We can expect fierce opposition:

“We’re certainly going to draw a line in the sand,” said Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), a member of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee. 

“This is the worst-case scenario when it comes to clean air and clean water, to nominate a climate denier to the agency charged with protecting our natural resources.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), an EPW member, said he will “vigorously” oppose Pruitt, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said “there will be a fight” over his nomination. 

“I think he has a record and it will scrutinized, and there will be opposition there as a result. Trump, the master showman, has already prepared the ground for not just Pruitt, but for a range of cabinet appointments – Pruitt, Carson, Sessions, Flynn, Price – each of them a hit to the midsection of progressivism.

Trump invites Al Gore, Leonardo De Caprio, and other greenies (and progressives) to the Trump Tower media stage, and gets great visuals telling a story of wide-ranging outreach to the other side. Meanwhile, the cabinet fills with his choices to reform what has held back our economy and society.