HOUSTON — Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler said Monday that supporters of the Green New Deal to fight climate change are “oblivious” to the continued need for fossil fuels in the U.S. and abroad.
“Supporters of the Green New Deal – or plans like it – are not only oblivious to how far we’ve come, but also where we are headed,” Wheeler said in an address at a massive energy conference in Houston, CERAWeek by IHS Markit. “There are a few, loud voices calling for the complete dismantling of U.S. fossil fuel production. Not only would this be dangerous for the economy and national security, but it would be devastating for public health – both here and abroad.”
The Green New Deal, a progressive blueprint to address climate change and other socioeconomic issues, calls for the U.S. to rapidly transition away from fossil fuels to renewable and other zero-carbon sources of energy by 2030.
A report issued Monday by the International Energy Agency, however, projected the U.S. will become a net exporter of oil and petroleum products like gasoline in 2021 for the first time in 65 years, after recently becoming the world’s top producer of oil and gas.
Wheeler, a former energy industry lobbyist confirmed last month to stay on has EPA administrator after leading the agency on an acting basis, continued to tout his administration’s rollback of Obama-era environmental and climate change rules, in the name of “regulatory certainty” for businesses.
In his speech, he did not mention climate change or renewable energy despite some of the largest oil and gas companies around the world at the conference discussing the challenge of the energy transition, and the need to address global warming.
Sen. Susan Collins, a moderate Republican from Maine, opposed Wheeler’s confirmation because of his inattention to addressing climate change.
Wheeler has tried to minimize the harm EPA’s actions would have on efforts to reduce carbon emissions, and on Monday he highlighted billions in economic savings to businesses he claims they would generate.
For example, he said the EPA’s narrow replacement of the Clean Power Plan to combat emissions from power plants would reduce electricity sector emissions 33 to 34 percent below 2005 levels. But most of that minimization could happen without any regulation, due to market forces, with cheap natural gas and renewables, and retiring coal plants.
Meanwhile, an analysis released last week by the State Energy and Environmental Impact Center at New York University projected the Trump administration’s proposal to soften Obama administration fuel efficiency standards for vehicles would create between 16 million and 37 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2025, equal to the annual emissions of more than 9 million vehicles.
Wheeler showed no signs of altering his agenda though, emphasizing his priority of moving the agency’s focus away from combating climate change to basic duties such as cleaning hazardous toxic sites, and ensuring healthy drinking water.
“We are doing a lot of positive things for the environment that Republican administrations don’t get credit for,” Wheeler said.
