From the Think Progress:

The White House announced Thursday that President Donald Trump has officially nominated Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist, to be deputy administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Until recently, Wheeler was a registered lobbyist for Murray Energy; he de-registered as a lobbyist on August 11, following months of speculation that he would be tapped for the number two position within the EPA. Murray Energy is the country’s largest privately owned coal company; it’s CEO, Bob Murray, is an ardent Trump supporter who hosted an invitation-only fundraiser for Trump during the presidential campaign and donated $300,000 to his inauguration.

Wheeler represented Murray as a lobbyist beginning in 2009. Before that, he worked for Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), a man who famously brought a snowball onto the floor of the Senate in an attempt to disprove the scientific evidence behind climate change.

There are critics. According to the New York Times:

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island who has made climate change one of his signature issues, said in a statement that Mr. Wheeler’s work for Murray Energy should disqualify him from the position.

“In Andrew Wheeler, the President has tapped yet another fossil fuel industry lobbyist to help in the capture of the Environmental Protection Agency for big polluters,” he said. “He shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the office to which he’s been nominated, but here we are.”

And the Sierra Club:

. . . . called his nomination “absolutely horrifying,” adding in a statement: “Andrew Wheeler is a big time lobbyist who has represented Big Coal for almost a decade, including in numerous lawsuits challenging the EPA. He is a friend to polluters, not to American families that rely on clean air and clean water.”