As President-Elect Trump slowly selects members of his cabinet, speculation mounts on his likely candidates for EPA Administrator. According to some media sources, the short list includes the following:
Myron Ebell: Mr. Ebell is leading Trump’s EPA transition team. He is the Director of the Center of Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a conservative, free-market group that has been an accredited non-governmental organization at the United Nations’ climate meetings. He has previously worked as Policy Director at Frontiers of Freedom Institute and a Member of the Global Science Communications Team at the American Petroleum Institute. He has publicly stated his opposition to “climate change alarmism.”
Robert E. Grady: Mr. Grady is a partner at Gryphon Investors. He previously worked as a partner at various private equity firms, Deputy Assistant to President George H.W. Bush, Executive Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) at the White House, and OMB Associate Director for Natural Resources, Energy, and Science. Mr. Grady was involved in drafting the Clean Air Act Amendment of 1990.
Jeffrey R. Holmstead: Mr. Holmstead is an attorney with Bracewell LLP. He previously served as former assistant EPA administrator for air and radiation in the George W. Bush administration.
Leslie Rutledge: Ms. Rutledge is attorney general of Arkansas. She previously worked as an agricultural advisor for Trump, Deputy Counsel to the Office of Governor Mike Huckabee, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, and Attorney for the State of Arkansas Division of Children and Family Services. On behalf of Arkansas, she has argued for state control over various decisions affecting utilities.
Although it remains to be seen if Trump’s campaign promise to change EPA “in almost every form” will be fulfilled, the backgrounds of his candidates for EPA Administrator suggest they will likely depart substantially from the environmental policies of the Obama administration.
