Senate Approves Possibly “Worst Pick Ever” for EPA Air Office

WASHINGTON – The Senate voted largely on party lines today confirming Bill Wehrum to head the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Air and Radiation.

The following is a statement from John Walke, clean air director at the Natural Resources Defense Council:

“Senate Republicans, sadly, have approved what may be the worst pick ever to be the nation’s top air quality official. Bill Wehrum’s prior tenure in that office was marred by extremely harmful rollbacks and delays in clean air protections, lawbreaking, frequent court defeats and dressing-downs from judges. But Mr. Wehrum now has an opportunity to pour all of his energies into fulfilling, not frustrating, the EPA’s mission to protect public health. He should start with curbing dangerous air pollution that makes us sick and endangers our climate. We’ll be working vigorously to ensure he does so.”

A coalition letter detailing opposition to Wehrum's nomination is here:  https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/letter-opposing-wehrum-epa-nomination_2017-09-19.pdf

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The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.​