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Andrew Wheeler: Trump's EPA pick says climate change 'not the greatest crisis'
(The Guardian, 16 Jan 2019) The former coal lobbyist took over the EPA when his predecessor Scott Pruitt resigned after months of controversy.
A former coal lobbyist Donald Trump has nominated to run the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday touted rolling back pollution standards and declined to identify climate change as a crisis requiring unprecedented action from the US.
Andrew Wheeler, the deputy administrator who took over when his predecessor Scott Pruitt resigned after months of controversy, said in his confirmation hearing that he is carrying out the president’s “regulatory reform agenda”. Wheeler called the US the “gold standard for environmental progress”.
Protesters interrupted Wheeler’s remarks, with two escorted out by security and more chanting outside: “Shut down Wheeler, not the EPA.” Most EPA staffers are furloughed and all but the agency’s most critical functions are on hold as the partial government shutdown continues.
Democrats said Wheeler’s policies have been as damaging to the environment as Pruitt’s, just without the high-profile scandals.
Although Wheeler is likely to be confirmed, they sought to pin him down on climate change, in a show of how the environment could become a top issue in the 2020 presidential race.
The Guardian, 16 Jan 2019: Andrew Wheeler: Trump's EPA pick says climate change 'not the greatest crisis'
