Senate confirms ex-coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler to run Environmental Protection Agency, in vote largely along party lines
By Brady Dennis and Brady Dennis Reporter focusing on environmental policy and public health issues Email Bio Follow Juliet Eilperin Juliet Eilperin Reporter covering national affairs Email Bio Follow February 28 at 1:09 PM The Senate on Thursday approved former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler to head the Environmental Protection Agency by a vote of 52 to 47, elevating a veteran of Washington political and industry circles who has advanced President Trump’s push to rollback Obama-era environmental...
“Through our deregulatory actions, the Trump administration has proven that burdensome federal regulations are not necessary to drive environmental progress,” Wheeler said at the time. “Certainty, and the innovation that thrives in a climate of certainty, are key to progress.” While Democrats initially viewed Wheeler as a pragmatic technocrat with whom they could forge a handful of policy compromises, they expressed disappointment over key decisions he has made at the agency.
Democrats used the vote as an opportunity to call for greater action on climate change, with more than half-a-dozen senators speaking to a nearly empty chamber about why the federal government should press for steeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. “It ought to tell us a lot that the Republicans put up a coal lobbyist to represent the people of America, leading the Environmental Protection Agency,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse .
“During the last administration, the EPA issued punishing regulations that would hurt the economy and raise costs on families. Under Acting Administrator Wheeler’s leadership, the EPA has taken a different approach,” Barrasso said.
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