Youngkin nominates Trump EPA chief Andrew Wheeler for secretary of natural resources

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Virginia Politics

Youngkin nominates Trump EPA chief Andrew Wheeler for secretary of natural resources

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By Laura Vozzella
Yesterday at 4:07 p.m. EST|Updated yesterday at 5:58 p.m. EST

RICHMOND — Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin (R) on Wednesday nominated Andrew Wheeler — a former coal lobbyist who led a rollback of Obama-era environmental regulations as President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency chief — as his secretary of natural resources.

The pick drew immediate blowback from environmentalists and elected Democrats from Richmond to Washington, who warned that Wheeler might not survive confirmation in the state Senate, which remains under narrow Democratic control.

“I know he’s new to Virginia government and all but @GlennYoungkin does understand cabinet secretaries require General Assembly approval --- right?” state Sen. Scott A. Surovell (D-Fairfax) tweeted.

Link to tweet

U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) called Wheeler “an anti-environment ideologue.” Sierra Club Virginia decried the move as “one of the most dangerous appointments in our state’s history.”

Link to tweet

[Youngkin picks Richmond insider Richard Cullen, businessman Jeff Goettman for key Cabinet posts]

Youngkin’s spokesman declined to comment on the criticism, pointing only to the news release announcing the nomination, which praised Wheeler as an Eagle Scout with a law degree and MBA who has dedicated his career to “advancing sound environmental policies.”

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By Laura Vozzella
Laura Vozzella covers Virginia politics for The Washington Post. Before joining The Post, she was a political columnist and food writer at the Baltimore Sun, and she has also worked for the Associated Press, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Hartford Courant. Twitter https://twitter.com/LVozzella

[elleng]

1. BAD news.

'Wheeler is one of the worst people the Governor-elect could have chosen for this job.'

*in April 2020, the EPA weakened mercury regulation in the United States by drastically curtailing the health benefits considered in calculations for making future regulations. Wheeler declared that this was a "honest accounting method", while the Trump administration took the stance that mercury cleanup was not "appropriate and necessary".[40]

Wheeler did not enact any rules that reduced air pollution or carbon emissions.[41]'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_R._Wheeler

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Youngkin names Trump's EPA chief to lead natural resources, sparking outrage from Dems, groups

Youngkin names Trump's EPA chief to lead natural resources, sparking outrage from Dems, environmental groups

Patrick Wilson Jan 5, 2022

Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin on Wednesday named Andrew Wheeler, who rolled back environmental safeguards as head of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Donald Trump, as secretary of natural resources. The choice drew outrage from Democrats and environmental groups.

Youngkin, who takes office on Jan. 15, also announced he wants Michael Rolband, founder of the company Wetland Studies and Solutions Inc., as his choice to head the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, which is under the natural resources secretary.

“Andrew and Michael share my vision in finding new ways to innovate and use our natural resources to provide Virginia with a stable, dependable, and growing power supply that will meet Virginia’s power demands without passing the costs on to the consumer,” Youngkin said in a statement.

One Democratic senator, Scott Surovell of Fairfax County, suggested that Republicans should join Democrats in the Senate in killing the nomination, the incoming GOP governor’s first Cabinet pick to draw controversy.

“First reaction is — it’s an outright oddity to appoint an inside-the-D.C.-Beltway coal lobbyist in a state that produces virtually zero coal,” said Walton Shepherd, a senior staff attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council in Virginia.

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[e-mail]

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Twitter: @patrickmwilson

Staff writer Andrew Cain contributed to this report.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. Youngkin Picks Trump EPA Boss Andrew Wheeler For Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources

JAN 6, 3:30 PM

Youngkin Picks Trump EPA Boss Andrew Wheeler For Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources

Jacob Fenston https://twitter.com/JacobFenston

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State Sen. Scott Surovell (D) said he was baffled by the choice of Wheeler. “Youngkin campaigned as a sort of a consensus-building-friendly moderate, and he tried to downplay anything related to Donald Trump. Then to pick one of the people in the Trump administration that’s most deeply identified with Trump and Trump’s policies and Trump’s hostility towards environmental protection — it was just really kind of dumbfounding to me.”

Surovell noted that Wheeler may face a tough confirmation in the General Assembly, where Democrats still control the senate.

Link to tweet

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Since departing the EPA, Wheeler, a Fairfax County resident, has been busy as a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation, writing opinion pieces for the Wall Street Journal, and testifying against plastic bag fees.

Youngkin also announced his pick for director of environmental quality, engineer and wetland scientist Mike Rolband. Rolband, who founded the consulting firm Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc. (WSSI), did not spark the same sort of outcry as Wheeler.