Trump Nominates Wheeler to Head EPA During Shutdown

FEATURING KEITH GABY – The Trump administration earlier this week formally nominated acting head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Andrew Wheeler, as permanent head. Wheeler had served as Deputy Administrator of the EPA under Scott Pruitt, and when Pruitt resigned in a cloud of ethics and corruption scandals last July, Wheeler stepped in as Acting Administrator.

Wheeler is a former coal industry lobbyist and environmental organizations fear he will continue, if not worsen, Pruitt’s destructive legacy at the EPA.

Meanwhile federal workers rallied in Washington DC on Thursday to protest the on-going federal government shutdown. Among them were likely EPA workers. Like other agencies, the EPA has struggled to fulfill its critical role in enforcing environmental regulations during the shutdown.

For more information visit www.EDFAction.org and www.momscleanairforce.org.

Keith Gaby, Senior Communications Director of Climate, Health, and Political Affairs at the Environmental Defense Fund.