Senate confirms a former coal lobbyist as Scott Pruitt's second-in-command at EPA

[DonViejo]

Source: The Washington Post



By Steven Mufson, Brady Dennis and Dino Grandoni April 12 at 4:34 PM

If embattled Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt were to leave office, the reins of the agency could fall to a former Senate aide and coal mining lobbyist who was confirmed 53-45 Thursday afternoon to become second-in-command at EPA.

Andrew Wheeler worked at the EPA more than two decades ago and later served as an adviser to Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), a high-profile critic of climate science who famously brought a snowball to the Senate floor as a prop. For the past nine years, Wheeler has been a lobbyist for a variety of companies, including Appalachian coal mining firm Murray Energy.

President Trump nominated Wheeler for the deputy administrator job last fall, but only this week did his nomination finally arrive on the Senate floor for a vote. Confirmation appears likely by the end of the week.

Wheeler, who works for the lobbying firm FaegreBD Consulting, received $370,000 in fees last year from Murray Energy. Murray has paid Wheeler’s firms $225,000 to $559,000 over the past nine years.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-senate-is-about-to-confirm-a-coal-lobbyist-as-top-epa-deputy/2018/04/12/b1bb6844-3dbe-11e8-a7d1-e4efec6389f0_story.html

[riversedge]

1. Three Democrats voted for Wheeler, all from coal states. Heitkamp (N.D.) Manchin, WVir, Donnelly IND

....Three Democrats voted for Wheeler, all from coal states. They included Sens Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Joe Manchin III (W.Vir.) and Joe Donnelly (Ind.).
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-senate-is-about-to-confirm-a-coal-lobbyist-as-top-epa-deputy/2018/04/12/b1bb6844-3dbe-11e8-a7d1-e4efec6389f0_story.html?utm_term=.2ee84ad5538e

Lukas Ross, climate and energy campaigner at the advocacy group Friends of the Earth, said in a statement that Wheeler would almost certainly carry out the regulatory rollbacks started under Pruitt.

“Andrew Wheeler is Big Oil’s backup plan in case Scott Pruitt’s corruption finally finishes him,” Ross said. “As Scott Pruitt stumbles from scandal to scandal, there is nothing more dangerous than a dirty energy lobbyist waiting in the wings to become acting Administrator.”

[maxrandb]

2. Yes, let's punish the Democrats

but let's just ignore the fact that this piece of shit would be nowhere near the EPA had Clinton been rightfully elected.

But... yeah, both parties are the same

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

3. Whew! I was worried they would do something good, like appoint an environmentalist.

So far he's batting a thousand. Every single appointment has been either a lobbyist or unqualified.

Speaking of unqualified, did you see the District Judge appointee at her Senate confirmation hearing? She refused to say whether Brown v. Board of Education (the landmark case ending public school segregation) was correctly decided. She said she'd set aside "personal, religious or political views" and she would be bound by Supreme Court precedent.

A commentator on CNN said, "Her answer caused the liberals to go crazy," as if integration is still a left/right issue anymore. Or maybe it is -- after all, there are "some good people on both sides" among the Charlottesville neo-Nazi & white supremacists rally and those who protested against it.