Trump Nominates a Coal Lobbyist to Be No. 2 at E.P.A.
“Andrew is highly qualified, can work with Congress
and understands what needs to be done to articulate President Trump and Administrator Pruitt’s vision of resetting our energy and environmental policies.”
Since 2009, Mr. Wheeler has been a leader in the energy practice of the law firm Faegre Baker Daniels.
In announcing Mr. Wheeler, a former aide to Senator James M. Inhofe, to be deputy administrator of the agency, the White House tapped an experienced legislative hand reviled by environmental activists
but hailed by industry as having the know-how to dismantle Obama-era fossil fuel regulations.
“It’s a solid choice,” said Thomas J. Pyle, president of the Institute for Energy Research, a group
that promotes fossil fuels and opposes most climate change policy.
President Trump on Thursday nominated Andrew R. Wheeler, a coal lobbyist with links to outspoken deniers
of established science on climate change, to help lead the Environmental Protection Agency.
“He has spent his entire career working to improve environmental outcomes for Americans across the country
and understands the importance of providing regulatory certainty for our country,” Mr. Pruitt said in a statement
