EPA nominee says climate change not a great crisis
WASHINGTON — EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler questioned the urgency of the climate change crisis Wednesday, as he made his case to senators be confirmed as the permanent head of the environmental agency.
In a hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Democrats pressured Wheeler to take a stronger lead on climate change, an issue that President Donald Trump has long viewed skeptically and question whether it is valid. .
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., asked Wheeler whether climate change was the greatest crisis facing the world and required “unprecedented action.” After some back and forth, Wheeler said, “I would not call it the greatest crisis, no sir.
“I believe that climate change is a global issue that must be addressed globally,” he said.
Wheeler, a former industry lobbyist and studied Washington hand, is expected to be confirmed easily
in the Republican-led Senate following his nomination in November to replace former administrator Scott Pruitt, who resigned last year while under multiple ethics investigation.
In the six months since Wheeler was appointed acting administrator, he has advanced Trump’s agenda to reduce fossil fuel regulations, rolling back rules limiting methane emissions from oil and gas drilling as well as carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
“He is committed to protecting the environment and has the respect of the career staff, but he is also committed to undoing the regulatory overreach that occurred under the Obama administration,” said Jeff Holmstead, a Washington energy attorney who served in the EPA during the George W. Bush administration.
Wheeler, a former top staffer of Sen. Janes Inhofe, R-Okla. — who once brought a snowball onto the Senate floor to question climate change’s validity — is expected to usher in a more professional, less gaffe-ridden era in contrast to Pruitt’s controversial tenure . But Wheeler's ties to industry — he formerly lobbied for the coal sector, among other industries — have turned environmentalists against him.
Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, urged the Senate on Wednesday to reject Wheeler's nomination.
“The EPA is our last line of defense against toxic pollution and environmental ruin,” she said. “The American people expect its (EPA) chief to honor that mission and protect the environment and public health — not go to bat for polluter profits at the people's expense.”
Wheeler’s testimony was interrupted at the beginning of the hearing by a protester inside the committee room chanting, “Shut down Wheeler, not the EPA.”
After a pause to remove the protesters from the room, Wheeler lauded his agency’s efforts to cut regulations under Trump, touting the administration’s efforts to complete Superfund cleanups and reduce lead levels in drinking water, while also painting a picture of a more industry-friendly Environmental Protection Agency.
“We are advancing the president's regulatory reform agenda. In 2018, EPA finalized 13 major deregulatory actions, saving Americans roughly $1.8 billion in regulatory costs,” Wheeler said. “The Trump administration has proven that burdensome federal regulations are not necessary to drive environmental progress. Certainty, and the innovation that thrives in a climate of certainty, are key to progress.”
But a recent rise in U.S. carbon emissions has raised questions around whether the Trump administration’s plans to loosen air pollution regulations are setting back climate change efforts.
Last week, the research firm Rhodium Group published an estimate that U.S. carbon emissions increased 3.2 percent in 2018, reversing years of decline despite an ongoing shift away from coal to natural gas and renewable energy on the power grid.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Wheeler characterized the spike as a temporary blip, the result of a strong U.S. economy and a hot summer and cold winter.
“We believe the downward trend is going to continue,” he said.
MILWAUKEE — The nation’s craft beer taps are being squeezed by the government shutdown, which has put new releases on hold, prevented new breweries from opening and stopped shipments of some suds across state lines.
The partial shutdown halted operations at the federal agency that regulates alcohol production and distribution. That means government employees can’t issue the permits needed for the beer to flow.
“I’ve been joking with people that if you’re going to want a new beer coming out pretty soon, you’re going to have to drink your brotherin-law’s home brew,” said Russ Klisch, founder and president of Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee.
Brewers are increasingly nervous that they will lose money if brewery openings and seasonal beers are delayed much longer in the dispute over President Donald Trump’s demand for taxpayer funding of a wall along the border with Mexico.
At Lakefront, the release of a new beer has been postponed because the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau isn’t open to approve labels for the bottles and cans. The brewery can sell beer in Wisconsin, but sales in other states require federally approved labels.
The shutdown that began Dec. 22 pinches primarily craft brewers, which offer wider varieties of beer and selections that change constantly. The biggest brewers are largely unaffected because they already have government approval for their top national brands.
Lakefront offers about 30 styles of beer throughout the year, including 20 that are sold out of state. In a typical year, about six of those need label approval because they are new.
Out-of-state sales account for about 10 percent of the brewery’s annual profits, Klisch said.
The end of the shutdown won’t bring an immediate end to the delays. The longer the shutdown continues, the bigger the backlog the bureau will have to sort through when work resumes. That means it could still be months before labels and permits are approved.
“A big part of it will be all the plans that brewers have for 2019 will get thrown out the window,” said Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association in Boulder, Colo.
David Rowland’s plan to expand his brewery with a new location is also on hold.
“We really did expect to have our license by now or to be darned close,” said Rowland, co-owner of SoMe Brewing Co. in York, Maine.
The new brewery in York Beach is ready to open, he said. But first they need a federal permit. In the meantime, they still have to pay for rent, utilities and loans for the new location.
“We’re paying for a second brewery that is not open,” Rowland said.
Back in Wisconsin, Mosinee Brewing Co. finds itself in a similar position. The brewery expected to be making its own beer by now, but without a permit, it is limited to selling brews from other Wisconsin firms.
It’s too early to quantify the overall economic effect on breweries, said Mark GarthWaite, executive director of the Wisconsin Brewers Guild. But he said smaller brewers who are always introducing new beers — especially those that rely on sales to other states — are likely to suffer most.
Klisch said a beer or two might help the negotiations between Democratic lawmakers and Trump.
“I think if they all got a beer together and they drank one in a room, they would figure it out,” he said. Then, after a pause: “A few beers. I think they need a few beers, and they’ll figure out this shutdown.”