who is andrew wheeler? >> i see andrew wheeler as being way more professional than scott pruitt.s the agency, and he knows how the regulatory process works. >> andrew wheeler was a lobbyist for the coal industry. >> he's bound to be affected by that. and believe their interests are in the public interest. >> you asked me to do three things, continue to clean up the air, continue to clean up the water, and continue to provide regulatory relief to keep the economy growing. the president knows we can do all three at the same time. >> washington d.c., 1991. andrew wheeler started off his career at the epa's office of pollution prevention and toxics. four years later, he moved to capitol hill. wheeler spent 14 years serving under senator james enrof, a renowned climate change denier who once used a snowball to try to disprove global warming. after the senate, wheeler spent nine years as a lobbyist consultant working with more than 20 clients including a trade associations and the largest private coal mining company in the united states. >> i did work for a coal company, and i'm not as

this move the epa administrator andrew wheeler said was designed to help america's energy providers.w wheeler, by the way, who runs the epa said that global warming is something that's 50 to 75 years away. the same year the trump's administration rolled back the fuel set of si standards for cars and light duty trucks. in 2016 about one-sixth of u.s. greenhouse gas emissions came from, you guessed it, passenger cars and light duty trucks. and in 2017 just five months after taking office president trump said that he's pulling out of the paris climate agreement. as of 2019 196 states plus the european union have signed that pact leaving the united states as the only country in the world to reject it. all right. we do talk about climate a lot around here. join us september 19th and toth for msnbc's climate forum 2020 in partnership with georgetown university and our daily planet. i will be joined by chris hayes as we hear from presidential candidates on climate change. thanks for watching "velshi & ruhle." i will see you back here at 3:00 p.m. you can watch this show or listen to it on s

member of his staff used to work on the pebble staff in public relations and at epa headquarters, andrew wheelerl audience. he has recused himself. they said the obama era protections were outdated and this mine would have to go through approval process. our sources are telling us it's a done deal. when we asked the epa about the internal meeting on june 27th, at first the epa denied it even happened but then we presented them with our evidence. they admitted the meeting took place and sources say that is when they told skooinss and their work was not needed. >>> in saudi arabia, more than 2 million muslims are taking part in the annual hajj pilgrimage. they're heading to mount arafat. the hajj is considered one of the five pillars of islam. able bodied muslims who can afford it are expected to travel to the city of mecca at least once in a tliemp. >>> that's it for me. thanks for watching. i'm cyril vanier. "cnn newsroom" with natalie allen is up next. you're in great hands. have a great day. rring) ♪ (baby laughing) ♪ pampers is here to help every parent love the changes a baby brings. ♪ a coc

. >> and you see this as well, andrew wheeler, the number of oil and gas lobbyists now populating inration is unique. i'm not going to saying this dawning on all miners, but i can say that i've talked to miners who voted for donald trump, who are now feeling very beaten down. i think it will come down to what the alternative is. but we're in a very different place, at least i feel based on my reporting from where we were in 2016 which was that a lot of these coal miners really believed trump when he said that he was going to revive the industry and bring back their communities and now they don't believe the dream anymore. they just want something, some kind of opportunity. some kind of restraining. they're open to it. they're inviting democrats for the first time since john kerry came into a mine, to come into the mine, sit down and just talk with them about what can be done. >> remember, the state of west virginia, though, many have rejected mike bloomberg's plan saying you take our jobs away. >> there were discussions about how to do this, but i think -- i guess what heidi is heari

and at epa headquarters, andrew wheeler, the former coal company lobbyist, has a tie to pebble mine too has recused himself from decision-making because his former law firm represents the mine. >> just the -- even saying a former coal company lobbyist is running it, that says a lot. we've seen so many of these decisions that put these companies ahead of the environment. is this a done deal? will this mine be built? >> it must still have its permit approved. but it is basically a done deal. the epa says those obama era protections were outdated. anderson, the government scientists we've been talking to, don't believe that for one minute. they consider this mine terribly dangerous for the bristol bay watershed. >> there's no doubt this was a decision by those trump appointees, not scientists, correct? >> yes. the general counsel for epa made this decision. at first the epa denied that this meeting the day after the governor's meeting took place even happened. not true. when we confronted the epa with our own evidence, they admitted this meeting did take place. it's in this meeting, one da

and at epa headquarters, andrew wheeler, the former coal company lobbyist who now runs the agency has a tie to pebble mine, too. he has recused himself from decision making on the project because his former law firm represents the mine. in response to this report, the epa said the obama-era protections were outdated and this mine would still have to go through approval process. our sources are telling us, it's really a done deal. and when we asked the epa about that internal meeting on june 27th. at first the epa denied it even happened. but then we presented them with our evidence. they admitted the meeting took place. and our sources say that is when officials told scientists at the epa the decision on bristol bay was made. and their work was not needed. drew griffin, cnn, atlanta. >>> next here, a new issue between india and pakistan, all around the autonomous region of ca cashmere. we'll get the latest after this. and getting her car towed. all i had to take care of was making sure that my daughter was ok. if i met another veteran, and they were with another insurance company, i w

epa administrator andrew wheeler. he has done an incredible job. great job, andrew. really great.ognize want to some of my great friends that have helped me so much. congressman john joyce. where is john. usually you are in the front row. i can't believe this. theess you got shut out by unions. thank you, john. fantastic job. of allyce, great friend of us. speaker of the pennsylvania ,ouse of representatives michael, thank you, great job. good to see you, michael. in the state for a long time. how long has it been, michael? you have been there a long time. good luck. not that long. thank you, mike. and one of my good friends from beaver town, david urban. where is david? thank you, david. great football player, great athlete. he was a trump supporter. when he liked trump, nobody was going to get in his way, right, david? thank you. how are we doing in the state, david? are we looking good? it.k you, i appreciate i think we are looking very good. i think we are looking good all over, in ohio, in north carolina, and south carolina, florida. we just got numbers in florida. we are loo

epa administrator andrew wheeler. he has done an incredible job. andrew. great job, andrew.y great. and i also want to recognize some of my great friends that have helped me so much. congressman john joyce. john. john, where is john? john? john, usually you are in the front row. i can't believe this. i guess you got shut out by the unions. thank you, john. fantastic job. john joyce, great friend of all of us. speaker of the pennsylvania house of representatives, michael, thank you, great job. good to see you, michael. michael, great name in the state for a long time. how long has it been, michael? you have been there a long time. good luck. not that long. thank you, mike. and one of my good friends from beaver county, david urban. david, david, where is david? david, thank you, david. great football player, great athlete. he was a trump supporter. he liked trump. when he liked trump, nobody was going to get in his way, right, david? thank you. thank you. how are we doing in the state, david? are we looking good? thank you, i appreciate it. thank you. i think we are looking v

. >> let me just tell you what the epa administrator andrew wheeler who doesn't really think climatenge is all that serious a matter. he said that the trump administration recognizes that methane is valuable and that the industry has incentive to minimize leaks and maximize its use. while methane emissions across the natural gas industry have fallen by nearly 15%. here's a sentence that i want you to help me with. our regulation should not stifle this innovation and progress. what's the argument that the regulation limiting the amount of methane released in the production of natural gas is stifling innovation and progress? >> well, if it were the case that the pure price of natural gas would encourage these companies to keep it in the pipes, then we wouldn't be sitting here today talking about a regulation that can reduce nearly 11 million metric tons of methane emissions from going into the air. so we've seen that the voluntary approach just doesn't work. the industry doesn't have enough incentive. they'd rather go drill new wells than to control the emissions from the wells that th

and at epa headquarters, andrew wheeler, the former coal company lobbyist who now runs the agency, hasing on the project because his former law firm represents the mine. in response to this report, the epa said those obama-era protections were outdated, and this mine would still have to go through approval process. our sources are telling us it's really a done deal. and when we asked the epa about that internal meeting on june 27th, at first the epa denied it even happened, but then we presented them with our evidence. they admitted the meeting took place. and our sources say that is when officials told scientists at the epa a decision on bristol bay was made, and and their work was not needed. drew griffin, cnn, atlanta. >>> just when you needed another reason to not go to the gym. hear why some voters fed up with president trump are done with two popular gym chains. rid-x contains billions of enzymes proven to break down even paper to keep your whole septic system healthy. rid-x, the number 1 septic brand. also from rid-x, try new rv odor control. diarrhea?! new pepto diarrhea to the

and at epa headquarters andrew wheeler, the former coal company lobbyist now running the agency has tole miep. he has recused himself from decision making on the project because his former law firm represents the mine. >> jim in response to the report, the epa says the obama era protections were outdated and the mine still has to go through the approval process. our sources are telling us it's a done deal. and when we asked about the internal epa meeting on june 27th, the day after the governor met with the president, at first the epa denied it happened but when we rented evidence any admitted the meeting took place. and our sources say, that jim is when officials told scientists, the decision is made and their work is not needed >> excellent report drew, thank you very much. and we'll have more news straight ahead. let me ask you something. can the past help you write the future? can you feel calm in the eye of a storm? can you do more with less? can you raise the bar while reducing your footprint? for our 100 years we've been answering the questions of today to meet the energy needs

host: epa administrator andrew wheeler from back in june. linda is next in maryland.s climate change a top issue for you in 2020? caller: the environment certainly is. i think climate change is a red herring. off allvolcanoes going over the planet and magma rising and solar cycles that will impact us. if we threw all of our money at the problem, i don't think it would save us, necessarily, i think we have to bring back old-fashioned conservatism in certain areas. buying everything from china where they have no epa is really shortsighted and makes us feel better. i think sustainable farming, local things being made would be the best thing we could do for our environment. host: when you say climate change is a red herring, are you saying you think man's impact when it comes to a change in climate versus nature's? ? impact -- nature's impact? caller: yes, i think we never talked about the historical changes in climate and we don't talk about things happening right now that are greatly impacting the weather, the climate, the health of the planet in general. host: that is

andrew wheeler saying in a statement, quote, epa proposal delivers on president trump's executive orderremoves, unnecessary, duplicative regulatory burdens from the oil and gas industry. some big cast companies said they don't want these regs to be rolled back at all. that is pointed out by greenpeace says in a statement, quote, rolling back these regulations will have catastrophic consequences for generations. even some of the carbon majors know it, many of them asked the trump administration not to undo these regulations. neil methane is emitted during the production of oil and natural gas. it's a key component to global warming. neil? neil: thank you very much. blake burman at the white house. >>> department of justice is finding that former fbi director james comey violated fbi policies, and employment agreement by sharing infamous memos. "axios" reporter kaitlin owens, what this means. they are not recommending more severe action. he left the fbi. what are they saying? >> essentially look, this was inappropriate behavior. it violated policies. it sets a dangerous precedent for law

will have with him the secretary of energy, rick perry, the administrator, epa administrator andrew wheeleroyal dutch shell and a host of others, looking and expounding on energy alternatives to opec, traditional, new, you name it. the president saying without me, none of this would have happened. more after this. there's a company that's talked to even more real people than me: jd power. 448,134 to be exact. they answered 410 questions in 8 categories about vehicle quality. and when they were done, chevy earned more j.d. power quality awards across cars, trucks and suvs than any other brand over the last four years. so on behalf of chevrolet, i want to say "thank you, real people." you're welcome. we're gonna need a bigger room. at comcast, we didn't build the nation's largest gig-speed network just to make businesses run faster. we built it to help them go beyond. because beyond risk... welcome to the neighborhood, guys. there is reward. ♪ ♪ beyond work and life... who else could he be? there is the moment. beyond technology... there is human ingenuity. ♪ ♪ every day, comcast business is

i want to bring in for us now, andrew wheeler, the epa administrator.ade guy peter navarro on the program half hour ago, our president sent a message to china yesterday with the event in pennsylvania. you were there. the president went to see the energy station which is a huge employer. you were there. navarro says the president was sending a message to china at that event. what happened? is that correct? >> what we did yesterday was view the new -- being built outside of pittsburgh. this will take american natural gas to produce pollyethylene which places ticks. we'll produce a lot of plastic materials here using our natural gas in the united states, creating manufacturing jobs, using our natural resources instead of relying on a lot of resources coming over from china and finished products pro china. stuart: that was a message the president was sending going to that location? >> the message is, manufacturing is back in this country. we've added over 500,000 manufacturing jobs during this administration. we're doing it in a much cleaner, more environme