Virginia

Youngkin names Trump's EPA chief to lead natural resources, sparking outrage from Dems, environmental groups

Patrick Wilson Jan 5, 2022

Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin on Wednesday named Andrew Wheeler, who rolled back environmental safeguards as head of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Donald Trump, as secretary of natural resources. The choice drew outrage from Democrats and environmental groups.

Youngkin, who takes office on Jan. 15, also announced he wants Michael Rolband, founder of the company Wetland Studies and Solutions Inc., as his choice to head the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, which is under the natural resources secretary.

“Andrew and Michael share my vision in finding new ways to innovate and use our natural resources to provide Virginia with a stable, dependable, and growing power supply that will meet Virginia’s power demands without passing the costs on to the consumer,” Youngkin said in a statement.

One Democratic senator, Scott Surovell of Fairfax County, suggested that Republicans should join Democrats in the Senate in killing the nomination, the incoming GOP governor’s first Cabinet pick to draw controversy.

“First reaction is — it’s an outright oddity to appoint an inside-the-D.C.-Beltway coal lobbyist in a state that produces virtually zero coal,” said Walton Shepherd, a senior staff attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council in Virginia.

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pwilson@timesdispatch.com

(804) 649-6061

Twitter: @patrickmwilson

Staff writer Andrew Cain contributed to this report.