Energy Firms Have Had Secretive Alliance with Attorneys General- NY Times

POLITICS  | COURTING FAVOR: A HIDDEN COALITION 

Energy Firms in Secretive Alliance With Attorneys General

I am really not at all surprised to learn this, especially about a state like Oklahoma

By ERIC LIPTONDEC. 6, 2014

Photo

SCOTT PRUITT The Oklahoma attorney general, second from right, in Dallas in July, and his Republican counterparts have formed alliances to oppose federal regulations.CreditDylan Hollingsworth for The New York Times 

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The letter to the Environmental Protection Agency from Attorney General Scott Pruitt of Oklahoma carried a blunt accusation: Federal regulators were grossly overestimating the amount of air pollution caused by energy companies drilling new natural gas wells in his state.

But Mr. Pruitt left out one critical point. The three-page letter was written by lawyers for Devon Energy, one of Oklahoma’s biggest oiland gas companies, and was delivered to him by Devon’s chief of lobbying.

“Outstanding!” William F. Whitsitt, who at the time directed government relations at the company, said in a note to Mr. Pruitt’s office. The attorney general’s staff had taken Devon’s draft, copied it onto state government stationery with only a few word changes, and sent it to Washington with the attorney general’s signature. “The timing of the letter is great, given our meeting this Friday with both E.P.A. and the White House.”

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