New EPA Boss Same as the Old: Pruitt Policies to Stay Intact

  • Andrew Wheeler used to work for Senate’s chief climate skeptic
  • No. 2 official will take acting role after Pruitt resignation
Pruitt Steps Down as EPA Chief Amid Ethics Scandals
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

The change at the top of the Environmental Protection Agency won’t mean a dramatic shift in policy. If anything, President Donald Trump’s EPA could become even more effective at undoing Obama-era environmental policies under its new boss.

That’s because the incoming acting administrator Andrew Wheeler, who’s set take over Monday following the resignation of Scott Pruitt, is a politically savvy former Senate staffer, wise in the ways of Washington -- and getting things done. Wheeler, 53, has crusaded behind the scenes for decades to quash climate change legislation and promote coal.