Washington Watch: Senate Confirms Coal Lobbyist at EPA
With the support of both of North Carolina’s U.S. Senators, a narrow majority of the Senate voted to confirm climate change denier and former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The confirmation vote was a narrow 52-47, with opposing senators from both parties blasting Wheeler for his rolling back critical environmental protections for clean water, clean air, and public health. Those rollbacks include extremely important vehicle fuel efficiency standards, limits on air pollution emissions of mercury and other toxic chemicals, and key clean water protections.
Continuing their environmentally failing ways, both Thom Tillis and Richard Burr let North Carolinians down by supporting a Trump Administration nominee who has demonstrated his unfitness for the role of America’s chief environmental watchdog.
Wheeler’s record led Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) spokesperson John Bowman to observe, “When it comes to protecting public health, Andrew Wheeler’s record is abysmal. As acting EPA administrator, his actions worsened the air we breathe, jeopardized the water we drink and increased our exposure to toxic chemicals. He disregarded science and the growing threats from climate change. Now as administrator, we expect he will continue doing the bidding of the polluters he used to represent.”
National League of Conservation Voters (LCV) President Gene Karpinski said, “Andrew Wheeler simply has no business serving at the helm of the agency charged with protecting our health and our environment. Wheeler has dedicated his career to weakening environmental protections and has served as a lobbyist for the country’s largest coal company. As Acting Administrator, he has continued Scott Pruitt’s legacy of prioritizing polluter profits over our health and safety, undermining science, and failing to enforce our nation’s bedrock environmental laws. The need to combat the climate crisis could not be more obvious or more urgent, and it is utterly irresponsible that Andrew Wheeler has been confirmed to head the EPA.”
Both the president who appointed Wheeler and senators like Tillis who voted to confirm him will be on the ballot for public judgment next year.
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