Andrew Wheeler: Trump's EPA pick says climate change 'not the greatest crisis'

The former coal lobbyist took over the EPA when his predecessor Scott Pruitt resigned after months of controversy

A former coal lobbyist Donald Trump has nominated to run the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday touted rolling back pollution standards and declined to identify climate change as a crisis requiring unprecedented action from the US.

Andrew Wheeler, the deputy administrator who took over when his predecessor Scott Pruitt resigned after months of controversy, said in his confirmation hearing that he is carrying out the president's "regulatory reform agenda". Wheeler called the US the "gold standard for environmental progress".