The nomination of Andrew Wheeler to be Virginia’s next secretary of natural and historic resources took a hit Tuesday when the state Senate’s Committee on Privileges and Elections took his name off a resolution (SJ 84) approving Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s cabinet picks.

The committee’s nine Democrats all voted against Wheeler, who led the EPA under former President Donald Trump, while its six Republicans opposed removing him from the resolution. However, the committee’s vote may not be the final one on Wheeler. In the coming days, Republicans could try to amend the resolution on the Senate floor to once again include his name.

In Virginia, the governor’s cabinet and other key appointments must be approved by both houses of the General Assembly — the House of Delegates, where Republicans now hold the majority, and the Senate, where Democrats have a slim, 21-19 majority.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Sen. R. Creigh Deeds (D) led the opposition to approving the nomination, citing a letter from 150 former EPA employees who raised concerns that Wheeler “had undermined the work of the EPA and worked against the environmental interests of this country.”

“Members of the governor’s cabinet ought to be people that unite us as Virginians, and certainly the secretary of natural and historic resources ought to be one that we have confidence in, in terms of working for the preservation and conservation of our natural and historic resources,” Deeds said. “And on this side of the aisle, we just don’t have that sort of level of confidence with this nominee.”

Sen. Bryce E. Reeves (R) presented the Republicans’ counterargument in Wheeler’s favor, pointing to his efforts while at the EPA to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to clean up the Chesapeake Bay. “In 2020, the bay attained the lowest [area of] dead zone in 30 years,” Reeves said. “Undersea water grasses have increased [from] 34,000 to 100,000 acres. … I can go on and on and on. So, it’s just a difference of opinion.”

Youngkin spokesperson Macaulay Porter also promoted Wheeler’s work for the bay in a statement sent out after the vote. “Andrew Wheeler is a highly qualified individual with an extensive background on natural resources and issues critically important to Virginians,” Porter said. “The Governor is disappointed that the committee put partisan politics over the selection of an experienced public servant who would prioritize cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay and James River.”

The Right Call

But environmental and energy advocates quickly welcomed the vote, saying the Senate had made the right call.

“Andrew Wheeler is unfit to lead Virginia’s environmental agencies,” said Michael Town, executive director of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters. “We hope the Youngkin administration can find a replacement secretary who actually has a demonstrable record of caring about environmental protection, not working to undermine safeguards that protect clean air, clean water and our health.”

Sarah Francisco, director of the Southern Environmental Law Center’s Virginia office, said her nonpartisan organization is “eager to work with all who want to secure clean air, clean water and a thriving, healthy future for all Virginians. Mr. Wheeler’s track record, however, is one of gutting environmental protections and jeopardizing natural resources and public health — actions contrary to the values all Virginians share.”

“It appears the Senate took a careful look at Mr. Wheeler’s positions and found them at odds with the policy direction of the Commonwealth,” said Harry Godfrey, executive director of Advanced Energy Economy Virginia.

Godfrey also cited a recent interview with Politico in which Wheeler “expressed skepticism” about the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA), which commits the state to 100% clean energy by 2050.

As reported by Politico’s Joshua Siegel on Twitter, Wheeler said, “The targets are going to be very hard to meet, not just in Virginia but anywhere in the country. We are going to be relying on fossil fuels for quite a while for baseload generation, barring some technology advances.”

‘A Fighting Chance’

That answer appears to be at odds with Wheeler’s statements before the Virginia Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources on Jan. 25. As widely reported in local media, Wheeler told the committee he believed in climate change, had not discussed the VCEA with Youngkin and would uphold it as the law of the land.

But Wheeler’s environmental record goes back to his work as chief counsel for Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), an outspoken climate change denier, from 1995 to 1997. He also worked as a lobbyist for the coal industry from 2009 to 2017 at the law firm of Faegre Baker Daniels (now Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath).

In 2018, when he was the EPA’s acting administrator, Wheeler drew criticism for discounting the findings of the National Climate Assessment, begun during the Obama administration, claiming the report “pushed” a worst-case scenario. During his confirmation hearings to be the official administrator in 2019, he skirted repeated questions from Democratic senators on his views on climate change. (See Dems Press EPA’s Wheeler on Climate at Confirmation Hearing.)

Once confirmed, Wheeler weakened or rolled back a number of former President Barack Obama’s key environmental initiatives, such as the Clean Power Plan, aimed at reducing carbon emissions from power plants, and regulations requiring coal plants to clean up coal ash ponds. Working with the Department of Transportation, Wheeler’s EPA in 2020 also froze fuel efficiency standards to a fleet average of 32 mpg by 2026.

Current EPA Administrator Michael Regan recently issued new rules, resetting the target for 40 mpg by 2026. (See EPA Rules Will Slash Emissions, Rev up EV Market by 2026.)

The question now is whether Senate Republicans can get the one Democratic vote they will need first to put Wheeler’s name back into the resolution and then get it approved. With the Democrats’ slim majority, the loss of even one vote would result in a 20-20 tie vote, which would be broken by Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears.

As reported in The Washington Post, Sen. Joe Morrissey (D) said he was open to approving Wheeler’s nomination. “Let’s just say he’s got a fighting chance,” Morrissey said following the Jan. 25 hearing.