The Virginia Senate voted 21-19, along party lines, to decline to take up the nomination of controversial former Trump administration EPA chief Andrew Wheeler to serve as Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources.
A former coal industry lobbyist, Wheeler, the fox guarding the henhouse if there ever was one, presided over a rollback of environmental safeguards intended to protect clean air and water across the country.
Wheeler’s efforts at EPA to weaken environmental protections included coal rules that EPA scientists estimated would lead to an additional 1,400 premature deaths. A skeptic of the impact of climate change, he implemented numerous rules and regulations to end American efforts to combat emissions.
Wheeler also led efforts to weaken scientific foundations of EPA work, going so far as to alter projections of deaths resulting from deregulation by changing the way those projections were calculated.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin had nominated Wheeler to serve as his Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources last month.
The Senate vote blocking his nomination was met with enthusiasm by environmental advocates.
“Andrew Wheeler’s damaging record at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has already proven that he is unqualified to serve as Virginia’s Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources, despite recent attempts to rewrite his own history,” EDF Action Virginia Director Mandy Warner said.
“Mr. Wheeler did real damage to longstanding environmental protections while at EPA, instituting measures that are far outside the bipartisan mainstream and out of step with a majority of Virginians who want to see meaningful action on climate change. The Senate’s action is the right one and opens the door for a nominee who will truly protect the commonwealth’s air, water and land. Virginians can afford nothing less, and we stand ready to work with the next Secretary on critical environmental priorities, including the reduction of harmful greenhouse gas emissions as well as flood resilience,” Warner said.
“Wheeler’s track record of environmental degradation and catering to big polluters made him unfit for this post from the outset, and we applaud Senate Democrats for preventing his confirmation,” said Michael Town, executive director of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters. “With evidence now that he lacks the votes to push this nominee forward, we hope Youngkin will see reason and appoint a Natural Resources Secretary who will prioritize protecting the lands, air and water of the Commonwealth.”
Story by Chris Graham
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