Senator Hassan Votes Against Andrew Wheeler’s Nomination for EPA Administrator

WASHINGTON – Senator Maggie Hassan today issued the following statement after voting against the nomination of former coal lobbyist and current Acting Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, Andrew Wheeler, to serve as EPA Administrator:

“Former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler’s record of putting big oil and corporate special interests before the health of our people, economy, and environment makes him completely unfit to continue leading the EPA. During his time as Acting EPA Administrator, Mr. Wheeler has undermined efforts to combat climate change, gutted critical protections for our air and water, and failed to act with the urgency needed to address PFAS water contamination. I am disappointed that today’s vote did not yield the results that the American people deserve, but I will continue working across the aisle to build a stronger, more affordable clean energy future and to protect our environment for generations to come.” 

Senator Hassan recently criticized the EPA’s PFAS Action Plan for failing to set an enforceable drinking water standard. The EPA has since said it intends to set a drinking water standard, and the Senator will keep working to hold the EPA accountable and ensure that it happens. Also this month, Senator Hassan reintroduced the National Evaluation of Techniques for Making Energy Technologies More Effective and Resilient (NET METER) Act to create a national study on net metering to guide states interested in developing effective net metering programs, and she recently took to the Senate floor to highlight the very real and harmful impacts of climate change on New Hampshire’s economy and Seacoast.

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