In a year with record-setting fires in the West and historic hurricane numbers in the East, climate change is top of mind for many people. 

For just the second time in history, Atlantic storms are being named using the Greek alphabet after surpassing the annual list of names. 

"As far as the hurricanes, there's a lot of scientific debate on the hurricanes," Andrew R. Wheeler, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, claimed today on Cheddar's Opening Bell.

Meanwhile, leaders in Western states have been raising concerns about climate change once again as devastating and deadly fires consume more land than ever before. Those leaders pressed President Trump on the issue last week after the administration blamed forest management for the fires. At the time, the president claimed that "it will get cooler soon." 

Wheeler told Cheddar he does believe in climate change and humanity's contribution.

But Wheeler doubled-down on the administration's claims that forest management was behind California's increasingly destructive fires. "I do believe most of it is forest management issues because you don't have the same problems in other parts of the country," Wheeler said.

This week a group of former leaders of the EPA endorsed Joe Biden. The group was made up of EPA leaders who served under Democratic and Republican administrations. Christine Todd Whitman, a former Republican governor from New Jersey who ran the EPA under President George W. Bush, reiterated her stance Monday that the current administration was running a war against science.

Wheeler hit back today on Cheddar. "Yesterday's announcement was just pure politics," he said. "They had no facts to back up their statement."

Wheeler touted the agency's record on regulation enforcement and said he is "very proud of the fact that we have doubled the amount of both civil and criminal penalties by the Obama-Biden administration during the same time period." He went on to say the agency's foremost responsibility now is to enforce existing regulations as more and more environmental programs are delegated to the states. 

Share:
More In Politics
Federal Reserve cuts key rate as shutdown clouds economic outlook
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
US and China say a trade deal is drawing closer as meeting nears
U.S. and Chinese officials say a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies is drawing closer. The sides have reached an initial consensus for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalize during their high-stakes meeting Thursday in South Korea. Any agreement would be a relief to international markets. Trump's treasury secretary says discussions with China yielded preliminary agreements to stop the precursor chemicals for fentanyl from coming into the United States. Scott Bessent also says Beijing would make “substantial” purchases of soybean and other agricultural products while putting off export controls on rare earth elements needed for advanced technologies.
Load More