Environmental Protection Agency Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler ushered in a new tone and tenor at the agency Wednesday by promising career employees he would value their work and input as he stays loyal to a deregulatory agenda promised by President Trump.
Wheeler, in his first address to EPA career employees after Scott Pruitt resigned from ethics scandals, aimed to ease the angst of agency staff, while also asserting his commitment to continue the Trump administration’s focus away from combating climate change through regulations, and instead “restoring the rule of law by reining in federal overreach.”
“It is privilege and honor to be standing before you today,” Wheeler said to a standing-room-only crowd in the EPA’s Rachel Carson Green Room. “You can’t lead unless you listen. I value your input and feedback. I will start with the presumption you are performing your work as well as can be done. I will seek facts from you before drawing conclusions.”
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The EPA opened the meeting to the press and public, a signal that Wheeler will make the agency more transparent after Pruitt was accused of being overly secretive.
It’s a delicate balancing act for Wheeler, the former No. 2 official at the agency who supporters hope could serve as a more disciplined, understated, professional — and effective — leader than Pruitt was.
Wheeler is a career conservative Senate staffer, lawyer, and lobbyist with EPA experience and bipartisan relationships, whereas Pruitt was a former attorney general of Oklahoma who sued the EPA multiple times and had ambitious political goals.
Wheeler was quick to empathize with EPA employees, by highlighting his work at the agency from 1991 to 1995 when he was a career staffer focused on toxic chemical issues.
At the podium during his speech, he wore a bronze medal for commendable service earned from his time at EPA.
“I do understand the stress that goes along with a change in management,” Wheeler said. “We are going through that now. I want you to know I understand that. I will try to minimize the stress you deal with.”
Wheeler said he was focusing on repairing relationships with EPA career staff who bristled at Pruitt’s tendency to personalize his leadership of the agency and disregard people who worked for him.
He said he planned to travel to each of the EPA’s regional offices to mend relationships with staff.
He has already visited three regional offices and has met all of the agency’s assistant and regional administrators.
“I would say EPA employees are some of the most dedicated of all career employees in the federal government,” Wheeler said. “It is privilege to work on EPA’s vital mission of protecting human health and the environment.”
Wheeler has much more experience in environmental policy than Pruitt, having worked as an attorney and lobbyist on environmental issues for nine years.
Democrats and environmental groups who opposed Wheeler during confirmation for his deputy position in April note his past lobbying work for Murray Energy, the largest privately-owned coal company in the U.S.
Murray has asked Trump to bail out failing coal and nuclear plants, which the president is planning to do. Wheeler critics label him a “coal lobbyist,” a term he does not like, and made light of Wednesday.
“I had a number of clients,” Wheeler said. “If you read the press, I only had one, but I actual had over 20. I did work for a coal company. I am not ashamed for work I did for a coal company.”
Wheeler said he was “proud” of the work he did for Murray trying to ensure pension and retirement benefits for coal miners. He shared his personal connection to coal, noting that his grandfather worked in coal mines during the Great Depression.
The acting EPA leader offered other humanizing details, describing his time as an Eagle Scout, his achievement of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, and his favorite movies (the Lord of the Rings trilogy and “The Godfather”).
He did not utter Pruitt’s name, but he tied himself to his agenda, crediting his predecessor by making “tremendous progress” on cleaning hazardous Superfund sites quickly, investing in water infrastructure, “enhancing air quality, and improving how chemicals are approved for safety.”
He used Pruitt’s language, saying he wants to focus on the “core responsibilities of the agency.”
“President Trump asked me to focus on three things — clean air, water, and drive regulatory relief,” Wheeler said. “I think we can do all of those things at the same time.”
[Opinion: Why the Left will hate Andrew Wheeler at EPA even more than Scott Pruitt]
