Cindy Carr, cindy.carr@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the Senate voted to approve the nomination of Patrick Wyrick to a lifetime seat on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.
Wyrick has close ties with disgraced former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, who called Wyrick a “dear friend and trusted counselor.” Wyrick previously worked with Pruitt to undermine commonsense environmental safeguards -- including the Clean Power Plan, Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s demand-response rule -- pushed for restrictions on women’s healthcare, attacked protections for workers, and allegedly attempted to mislead the U.S. Supreme Court during one of his cases. Wyrick also has ties to Devon Energy, a company that lobbied him while he was Oklahoma’s Solicitor General, that he held stock in previously, and that has close ties to Scott Pruitt. Wyrick was also serving on the Oklahoma Supreme Court when it blocked the release of Pruitt’s emails detailing his relationship to the coal, oil, and fracked gas industries.
In response, Sierra Club Democracy Program Director Courtney Hight released the following statement:
"Patrick Wyrick is a textbook example of the extreme ideologues the Trump administration is nominating for lifetime seats on our courts across the country. Wyrick’s corrupt record is more than disqualifying for this position, and we can in no way expect him to impartially rule on cases involving any of the numerous companies and organizations he is deeply associated with. If Senate Republicans were voting in the best interest of the American people, they would have rejected Patrick Wyrick’s nomination full stop. The American people need and deserve more from our courts. ”
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Read the Sierra Club’s letter to the Senate in opposition to Patrick Wyrick’s nomination.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.