Dear Senator,

The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) works to turn environmental values into national priorities.  Each year, LCV publishes the National Environmental Scorecard, which details the voting records of members of Congress on environmental legislation.  The Scorecard is distributed to LCV members, concerned voters nationwide, and the media.

LCV urges you to oppose the nomination of Andrew Wheeler for Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and we will strongly consider including this confirmation vote in the 2019 Scorecard.

The mission of the EPA is to protect human health and the environment, but Andrew Wheeler’s record is completely antithetical to this vitally important mission. Just like his predecessor Scott Pruitt, Wheeler has dedicated his career to weakening environmental protections and has continued Pruitt’s legacy of prioritizing polluter profits over our health and safety. Wheeler was as a lobbyist for numerous fossil fuel clients, including one of our country’s biggest polluters, Murray Energy. Wheeler’s inherent conflicts of interest from his long history of ties to the fossil fuel industry make him an inappropriate choice to lead the EPA.

As Acting EPA Administrator, Wheeler has overseen the proposed rollback of Clean Water Act protections for the drinking water of tens of millions of people; gutted Mercury Air Toxics Standards that help ensure children, pregnant mothers and other vulnerable populations are protected from the potent neurotoxin; failed to take meaningful action to protect our families from toxic chemicals like PFAS and chlorpyrifos; and decimated the Clean Car Standards that could have saved drivers more than $60 billion while helping clean up our air and fight climate change – along with attacking state authority to set more aggressive fuel efficiency standards.

Throughout his career, Andrew Wheeler has openly opposed climate and clean air protections. While serving as a top aide to Senator Inhofe on the Environment and Public Works Committee, Wheeler worked to pass the reckless “Clear Skies Act,” which would have undermined the Clean Air Act and dangerously delayed critical improvements in our air quality. Thankfully, this extreme bill was defeated in committee due to bipartisan opposition.

For these reasons, LCV urges you to oppose the nomination of Andrew Wheeler for Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. We will strongly consider including this vote in the 2019 Scorecard. If you need more information, please call my office at (202) 785-8683 and ask to speak with a member of our government relations team.

Sincerely,

Gene Karpinski

President