President Trump’s choice for deputy administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency, the No. 2 job at the agency, struggled during his confirmation hearing Wednesday to distance himself from his past lobbying work with Murray Energy, the nation’s largest privately owned coal company.
Andrew Wheeler de-registered himself as a Murray lobbyist in an Aug. 11 filing with Congress.
But he told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Wednesday that he met with the Department of Energy on behalf of Murray a few months ago about Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s proposal to subsidize coal and nuclear plants.
He said he also participated in a Capitol Hill meeting on the subject.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, an independent agency, is considering the proposal to pay coal and nuclear plants to support the “resilience and reliability” they provide to the grid.
Bob Murray, the outspoken CEO of Murray Energy and ally of Trump, has been a leading proponent of Perry’s proposal, which is opposed by most of the energy industry because they say it would upset competitive power markets.
Murray recently called on FERC to “swiftly enact” Perry’s proposal and said it would be the “single greatest action” taken in decades to help coal.
Politico reported this week that Perry’s narrowly written proposal would mostly affect power plants in parts of the Midwest and Northeast where Murray Energy is the predominant supplier.
Wheeler also acknowledged that he has seen a copy of Murray’s “action plan” the coal CEO said he provided to Trump in January to help the struggling coal industry.
“I did not work on that [plan] or have a copy of that memo,” Wheeler said. “I saw it briefly at the beginning of year but don’t have possession of it. I looked at it.”
Democrats said that puts Wheeler’s impartiality in doubt.
“It’s something of significance if the CEO of a significant industry [Murray] said he has given [Trump] a three-page plan, and the candidate for deputy EPA administrator [Wheeler] said he has seen it,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. “The American people are entitled to an EPA that is not following a coal company’s three-page plan, but what is in the best interest of the American people.”
Wheeler was also noncommittal about whether he would recuse himself from being involved with lawsuits that Murray Energy filed against the Obama administration’s EPA.
Wheeler said he will follow ethics guidance from the EPA and said he did not work on any of the lawsuits on behalf of Murray.
Wheeler is a familiar face to the committee, having previously worked on the staff of Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., a committee member and former chairman. Some Democrats seemed to give deference to their familiarity with Wheeler.
“He did prove to be one with whom we were able to work together on policies that we all agree on,” said Sen. Carper of Delaware, the top Democrat on the committee.
Democrats also could take satisfaction that Wheeler vowed to respect the views of EPA’s career staff.
EPA employees are among “the most dedicated and hard-working employees in the federal government,” he said.
“The mission of the EPA to protect human health and the environment is critical to our country and its citizens and something that I take very seriously and I know you do, too,” Wheeler said.
