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Eugene

(61,595 posts)
Wed Jan 9, 2019, 02:30 PM Jan 2019

Trump nominates acting EPA head, an ex-coal lobbyist, to run agency

Source: Reuters

POLITICS JANUARY 9, 2019 / 1:00 PM / UPDATED 14 MINUTES AGO

Trump nominates acting EPA head, an ex-coal lobbyist, to run agency

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday nominated acting EPA chief Andrew Wheeler to run the agency permanently, the White House said, placing a former energy lobbyist at the helm of the nation’s top environmental regulator.

The widely anticipated nomination provides Trump another avid supporter of his deregulatory and pro-fossil fuels agenda, but without the constant criticism over alleged mismanagement that plagued Wheeler’s predecessor, Scott Pruitt.

Wheeler took the reins at the Environmental Protection Agency on an interim basis in July after Pruitt resigned amid a slew of controversies that included his high spending on first-class travel, round-the-clock security, and office equipment.

Wheeler, 54, has overseen a number of deregulatory efforts since Pruitt’s departure, including proposals weakening Obama-era rules limiting carbon and mercury emissions from power plants, and an initiative to lift a summertime ban on higher ethanol blends of gasoline that was enacted to curb smog.

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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-epa/trump-nominates-acting-epa-head-an-ex-coal-lobbyist-to-run-agency-idUSKCN1P324H

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