Sanders: ‘Delighted’ Pruitt Resigned, Wheeler ‘Should Be Vigorously Opposed’

On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Lead,” Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) expressed delight at the resignation of EPA Director Scott Pruitt and stated new Acting EPA Director Andrew Wheeler “should be vigorously opposed.”

Sanders said he is “delighted” that Pruitt is gone, and “what we have got to do now is to see if we can get a handful of Republican senators to understand that climate change is real, that environmental protection is enormously important for this country, and get them on board to demand that Trump appoint an EPA administrator who represents the American people and not just the fossil fuel industry.”

Sanders added that Wheeler “should be vigorously opposed.” He further stated, “[N]ot every Republican agrees with Trump or Pruitt that climate change is a hoax. There are many Republicans who understand that it is real, that it is an enormously serious issue. And we need three, four of them to join us in saying that we need an EPA administrator, I know this is a radical idea, who actually believes in environmental protection, rather than just the profits of the oil industry or the gas industry or the coal industry. That’s what we need to do. And we’ve got to put pressure on our Republican colleagues to get them on board.”

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