The man in charge of cleaning up America's pollution seemingly can't name three things the government is doing to clean up pollution.
Andrew Wheeler, the acting administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, who President Trump said he'd nominate to lead the agency full time, appeared at a Washington Post live event on Wednesday. It was the perfect opportunity to grill Wheeler on a Trump administration report that showed the U.S. isn't going far enough to combat climate change — and an opportunity Wheeler took to question much of the report's findings.
Trump on Monday cast doubt on the environmental report, particularly saying he doesn't "believe" warming temperatures could cost America $400 billion per year in a worst-case scenario. Wheeler backed up Trump's uncertainty, saying most of the report was written under the previous administration, so he can't vouch for its scientifically calculated information. Wheeler added that he "did not see the report before it was released" and still hasn't "read the entire" thing.
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Post reporter Juliet Eilperin also asked Wheeler to name three Trump administration policies that are combating air and water pollution, which Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday was "what matters most" to the administration in addressing climate change. "I'm not sure I'm going to be able to give three off the top of my head," Wheeler responded, before going on to mention but not exactly explain a few policies. Watch the whole moment below. Kathryn Krawczyk
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