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Andrew Wheeler, until here the deputy administrator of profile at the Environmental Protection Agency, has become a likely successor to the scandal-poisoned Thursday Scott Pruitt and an attractive alternative for those hoping to continue to roll the key policies of the EPA. [19659002] Wheeler spent a decade fighting for the kind of businesses that the agency regulates, and before that he worked for Senator James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), Who rejects the climate change. After three decades in Washington, Wheeler should resume where Pruitt's departure had stopped – without the controversy that constantly tormented him.
Although Wheeler eventually recuse himself from the EPA's specific decisions, his record as a lobbyist suggests his views may not differ much from those of Trump. At Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting, Wheeler represented companies in the energy sector, mining companies and other companies, ranging from food to auto recovery. Among his professional activities, he has appointed his position as vice-president of the Washington Coal Club.
"I have no doubt that Andy will continue with our great and lasting EPA agenda," tweeted Trump, announcing that he had accepted Pruitt's contract. resignation. "We have made tremendous progress and the future of the EPA is very bright!"
The Senate confirmed Wheeler for the place of deputy in April by a vote of 53 to 45. He would need to confirm it again for first place if he was appointed by Trump.
"There is every reason to expect that he will also vigorously pursue all the ongoing regulatory policies and initiatives initiated by Pruitt" Joseph Goffman, executive director of the law program at the University of Ottawa. Environment of the Harvard Law School
Environmental Groups vowed to fight Wheeler as much as they Pruitt
"Andrew Wheeler is also unqualified to serve as Environmental Officer of the Nation" Ana Unruh Cohen, Director General of Government Affairs at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement. "This veteran coal lobbyist has shown only disdain for EPA's core mission to protect the health of Americans and our environment."
While he was a lobbyist, Wheeler's highest-paid client was Murray Energy. According to documents from the Center for Responsive Politics, the mining company paid $ 300,000 or more annually to its business between 2009 and 2017.
Wheeler hosted a meeting between Executive Director Robert E. Murray and Energy on March 28, 2017 Secretary Rick Perry. Murray, who has been a major contributor to the Trump campaign, has developed a four-page plan to roll back regulations and protect coal plants that are in danger of being shut down due to competition from other fuel supplies.
The Trump administration has already taken action on most issues on Murray's list. The president recently ordered the Energy Department to invoke the energy emergency powers of the Cold War to take action that would prevent the closure of coal-fired power plants and nuclear power plants for at least two years. years, what Murray was looking for
. He worked not only for Inhofe, but as Director of Personnel and Senior Advisor of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works, where he worked to undo the climate laws presented to legislators.
after hurricanes Katrina and Rita and limit their liability for damage caused by the release of toxic chemicals. He was supportive of the elimination of the licensing process of New Source Review which is an important part of environmental legislation.
As a lobbyist, Wheeler commented on a 2010 blog that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change "worked more like politics. He also suggested that lawmakers support a proposal by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) to reverse the 2009 decision that carbon dioxide emissions pose a threat to public health.
the discovery of danger. In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that the Clean Air Act required the EPA to establish a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Wheeler said that overturning the court's decision would "allow legislators to develop a reasonable energy policy that can promote energy independence without killing our domestic production of fossil fuels."
"Wheeler is generally considered a kind of standard member of Washington DC" If the concern, however, is the politics and protection of public health and the way the EPA works, then I think Andy is a politician and a lobbyist, "said Goffman, a Democrat who worked at the EPA and alongside Wheeler.Weeler can be counted on, unfortunately, to apply exactly the same policies and reflect exactly the same ideology as Pruitt "continued Goffman. "He is a member of the same coalition that Pruitt represented."
According to Goffman, Wheeler does not need to recuse himself from most of the agency's decisions. Goffman says that the EPA Ethics Office takes a narrow view of conflict of interest.
"Decisions about the general impact on policies or programs are not objectionable, even if Wheeler advocates specific results. in private practice, "said Goffman." Wheeler also represented Energy Fuels Resources, a uranium mining company that could benefit from Trump's announcement last December. "
Wheeler also represented Energy Fuels Resources, a uranium mining company that could benefit from Trump's announcement in December, halve the size of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and lobbied the administration. almost nine months before the announcement.
In May 2017, Energy Fuels wrote a letter asking the administration to change the boundaries of the monument because of "many other known deposits of uranium and vanadium. "
Another former Wheeler customer, Mineceapolis' Xcel utility company, fought an EPA regulation that would require coal-fired power plants built between 1962 and 1977 improve their s installations with sulfur dioxide scrubbers. emission standards. The installation of scrubbers could be expensive for Xcel. One of its coal units in Amarillo, Texas, dates back to 1976.
The Bear Head LNG Corp. also paid Wheeler's company at least $ 10,000 last year. The company, a subsidiary of LNGL, wants to export liquefied natural gas from Nova Scotia and it needs permission from the Department of Energy to export natural gas produced in the United States. The district has donated $ 250,000 to Wheeler 's business to help it fight an EPA regulation that would limit ozone emissions. Since ozone is a pollutant that affects people in immediate areas, the regulation would require companies in a certain area to reduce their emissions.
Although Wheeler has not been involved in recent years, he continues to fight the EPA. He lost in a February 16 decision written by Judge David B. Sentelle of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Another client, Darling Ingredients, paid $ 420,000 to Wheeler cabinet over the past three years. The company has an interest in reforming the complicated standard Renewable Fuel Standard and tax credit for companies that blend ethanol and gasoline.
The Irving Society, Tex. facilities used to store petroleum fuels, vegetable oils and animal fats for only $ 99,000. In 2014, the company paid a penalty of $ 1.1 million to EPA
Wheeler also represented Whirlpool, Sargento Foods, Underwriters Laboratories, the Nuclear Energy Institute, the Coalition for the supply of domestic medical isotopes and auto insurance.
But Murray Energy was his most stable client. In 2014, Murray joined the fight against the historic rule of the Obama administration restricting mercury and other toxic emissions from coal and oil-fired power plants.
In a friendly note to the support of states and industry groups, that rule compromised the efforts of the state and local governments to provide affordable electricity and reliable. Two years later, he filed a lawsuit to prevent the EPA from regulating mercury from power plants under the Clean Air Act.
His general manager, who said he had no contact with Wheeler since he was a deputy administrator, wrote on Thursday that "Scott Pruitt was an outstanding director of the US EPA. United in reversing the illegal actions of the Obama administration.It is a tragedy for America to lose such a qualified administrator. "
Many Republicans will find that these antecedents make Wheeler the EPA chief they want.
"Andrew Wheeler is the perfect choice to serve as" Acting Administrator, "Inhofe said in a statement Thursday. "Andrew has worked for me for 14 years, has a flawless reputation, and has the experience of being a strong leader at the EPA – I have no doubts and I am confident that I will ################################################################## 39 he will continue the important work of deregulation that Scott Pruitt started while being a good steward of the environment. "
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