Wheeler Greenhouse Gaslights American Public in CBS Interview

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, in an interview with Major Garret on CBS This Morning, former coal lobbyist and EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler claimed he’s focused on clean water despite rolling back clean water protections, and wrongly stated that climate action isn’t urgent because its major effects will not start until 50-75 years from now.

In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune released the following statement:

"Andrew Wheeler lying about the urgency of the climate crisis is like Joe Camel telling you it's fine to smoke because lung cancer won't hurt you. Wheeler is greenhouse gaslighting the American people. From his inadequate PFAS action plan to rolling back clean water and climate safeguards, Wheeler isn’t protecting our drinking water or climate.  He’s leading the attack on the vital public safety protections in service of big polluters.”

Background: The recently released U.S. government produced National Climate Assessment and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report released late last year, that Wheeler has stated he read, both detail the need for urgent and increasingly ambitious action on climate.

On Monday, the Trump administration sent a spending request to Congress calling for 31% cut to the EPA’s budget including steep cuts to several research programs focused on PFAS and the neurotoxin lead. In total, more than 16 million Americans, including those living on 126 military bases have documented PFAS contamination in their drinking water -- but as many as 110 million Americans could be drinking PFAS contaminated water. The budget request would slash nearly $220 million from four PFAS research programs including the Sustainable and Healthy Communities program which researches end-of-life management of PFAS-containing materials such as industrial waste, household waste to minimize PFAS pollution. The budget would also zero out a $14 million lead remediation grant program.

Wheeler is also attacking clean water protections by attempting to roll back the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) and important federal safeguards for coal ash disposal, storage, and monitoring. Since their implementation, the MATS have kept tens of thousands of American’s safe from dangerous emissions from coal plants that contaminate local waterways, wildlife, and food - which is especially dangerous to vulnerable populations like pregnant women and children. Equally egregious is his attempted rollback of federal coal ash disposal, storage, and monitoring rules, which will put thousands of families in danger who live near coal plants and rely on local groundwater.