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Scott Pruitt’s Successor Could Be A More Effective Version Of Scott Pruitt

Andrew Wheeler during his confirmation hearing to be Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency before the United States Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works on Capitol Hill in Washin... Andrew Wheeler during his confirmation hearing to be Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency before the United States Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on November 8th, 2017. Andrew Wheeler confirmation hearing for Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC, USA - 08 Nov 2017 (Rex Features via AP Images) MORE LESS
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July 5, 2018 5:02 p.m.

Scott Pruitt withstood months of increasingly bad headlines, but called it quits today. He’s stepping down. Into his place (in an acting capacity) will step Andrew Wheeler, a former EPA staffer, Senate aide, coal industry lobbyist, and, as of April, the deputy director of the EPA.

Environmental advocates worry that Wheeler shares Pruitt’s theory of environmental regulation — specifically, that we need much less of it — but comes with years of experience as a Beltway operator that will help him put that agenda into action without becoming mired in scandal.

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