Lauren Lantry, lauren.lantry@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON D.C. - Acting EPA Administrator and recent coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler is under scrutiny for possibly violating the Trump administration’s ethics pledge and other ethics promises. Since replacing disgraced former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, Wheeler has had at least three meetings with clients that could be potential conflicts of interest, according to the E&E News.
In an interview with Bloomberg News June 27, Wheeler said, “If I lobbied on something, I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to participate.”
E&E reported on Wheeler’s public calendar, which shows that one day before this interview, he participated in a “stakeholder meeting” with Darling Ingredients, a biodiesel company that paid more for Wheeler’s lobbying than all of Wheeler’s other clients except coal company Murray Energy Corp. According to E&E, “the biodiesel producer paid Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting more than $1.4 million over nine years for Wheeler and the firm's other lobbyists”. Wheeler also met with former clients Archer Daniels Midland Co and South Coast Air Quality Management District.
According to E&E, “Those meetings occurred even though Wheeler promised to avoid his former clients until April 20, 2020, or only meet with them in large settings.”
Wheeler has also attended events that included the head of a company, International Paper, he is barred from interacting with.
Previously, Wheeler was exposed as having hosted fundraisers for two of the most powerful Republican senators voting on his nomination while he was already the presumptive nominee.
In response, Sierra Club Legislative Director Melinda Pierce released the following statement:
“It took coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler less than a month as acting EPA administrator to prove he can’t and won’t let go of his corporate polluter past. With each passing day, it has become more apparent that Wheeler is as ethically compromised as Scott Pruitt, disregarding ethics and conflict of interest concerns while meeting with big polluters and pushing their dirty policies. Meanwhile, the public interest is left behind in the smog produced by his dangerous agenda.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.