Trump to tap longtime coal lobbyist for EPA’s No. 2 spot

President Trump will nominate a prominent coal lobbyist and former Senate aide, Andrew Wheeler, to serve as the Environmental Protection Agency’s deputy administrator, according to two senior administration officials.

Wheeler, a principal at Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting, is a lobbyist for coal giant Murray Energy and served as a top aide for Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) when Inhofe chaired the Senate Environment Committee. He has represented Murray Energy — whose chief executive, Bob Murray, is a prominent supporter of the president — since 2009.

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Ken Notes: So let me get this straight, instead of reviewing and controlling the EPA, the new goal is to turn the EPA into and advocacy agency for the industries that do anything but protect the environment.