Texas Physicians for Social Responsibility Opposes Nomination of Andrew Wheeler as EPA Administrator
Austin, Texas. — In response to the nomination of Andrew Wheeler to serve as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Texas Physicians for Social Responsibility, an organization that mobilizes medical and health professionals and advocates on issues concerning environmental threats to public health, joins National Physicians for Social Responsibility in opposing the nomination of Andrew Wheeler as EPA Administrator and endorses the following statement:
“American families deserve an Environmental Protection Agency Administrator who actually protects their health and well-being and who works to strengthen critical environmental protections. Andrew Wheeler, a former coal industry lobbyist, has demonstrated time and again that he will side with polluters and the fossil fuel industry, despite the agency’s responsibility to protect the environment and safeguard Americans’ health.
“Across the country, Americans are being harmed by health effects of exposure to dangerous air and water pollutants from power plants, vehicles, mining, fracking and other sources. For example, exposure to even a small amount of mercury from coal-fired power plants can cause irreparable brain development defects in babies and young children. Other pollutants cause cancer, heart disease, lung disease, and premature death and damage the climate. Americans need real protection of their air, water and health, not abandonment of the EPA’s mission. The EPA was founded to serve as an agency that would champion environmental health and secure a healthier, safer future for all of us. When it comes to the EPA’s mission, Wheeler has demonstrated a commitment to doing the opposite. Oil and coal industry lobbyists are no doubt cheering as Wheeler, their man on the inside, wreaks havoc on critical protections for the sake of lining the fossil fuel industry’s pockets. Wheeler’s nomination to head the U.S. EPA should be rejected.”