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