Acting EPA Chief Can’t Avoid Conflicts of Interest, Watchdogs Say

The man tapped to run the Environmental Protection Agency, who worked as an energy lobbyist after nearly two decades in government, has promised to stay away from decisions that affect his old clients. But it might not be that simple.

Ethics watchdogs warn that Andrew Wheeler’s commitment to recuse himself is unlikely to be enforced if broken, and can be waived by the very staff that Wheeler now oversees. The result, they say, is that Wheeler’s pledge may not count for much.

“The public should be very concerned,” Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist at the Washington advocacy group ...