Ed Markey (D-MA) - Not Having Read The National Climate Assessment Disqualifies Wheeler For EPA

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In an exchange with Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist, said he has scheduled a number of follow-up briefings with his staff to better understand the findings in the NCA. Scientists and climate experts at 13 federal agencies, including the EPA, spent several years preparing the report.

Markey expressed concern that the nominee hasn’t spent more time reviewing the assessment. “You can say you haven’t had time to read it, but that in and of itself, from my perspective, is a disqualification for having the job,” Markey told Wheeler. In response to Markey’s comments, Wheeler said, “I didn’t say I haven’t read it. I said I haven’t finished being briefed by my staff, sir.”

The congressionally mandated NCA, released by the Trump administration the day after Thanksgiving, detailed the costly and accelerating consequences of increased global temperatures on the United States. In it, scientists warned that without “substantial and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions,” annual average global temperatures could increase by a staggering 9°F (5°C) or more by the end of this century, compared to pre-industrial temperatures.

Markey argued it’s unacceptable that Wheeler hasn’t spent more time reading the NCA. “You’re looking to be confirmed as the head of Environmental Protection Agency, and we’re having a hearing on your worthiness for this job and you’ve very conveniently haven’t had enough time to view whether or not there’s an extra level of urgency to this problem,” the senator said.

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https://thinkprogress.org/andrew-wheeler-epa-hearing-climate-e71f55386c58/