HOUSTON—Speaking at CERAWeek by IHS Markit, in Houston on March 11, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler spoke about his agency’s work in promoting fossil fuels as the country’s primary energy supply and encouraged global energy buyers to turn to the U.S. for its energy needs.

“If you are looking to buy energy on the open market, look to the U.S.,” Wheeler said. “If you are looking for energy technology or technical assistance, look to the U.S. If you are looking for reliability, certainty and security, look to the U.S. And if you want the most environmentally-conscious produced energy anywhere on the planet, again, look to the U.S.”

Wheeler claimed that the U.S. extracts and produces fossil fuels in a more environmentally conscious manner than anywhere else in the world. In later comments to reporters, Wheeler said the EPA made such a determination by analyzing data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and International Energy Agency, although he did not provide specifics. 

“If other counties want to purchase coal on the open market, we mine our coal in a safer and more environmentally friendly manner than other nations,” he said. “If you want to purchase oil on the open market, we extract and refine our oil in a more environmentally conscious manner than other nations. If Europe wants to buy natural gas on the marketplace, we produce our natural gas in a much cleaner fashion than Russia, for example.”

Wheeler did not address climate change during his remarks, despite many of the event’s week-long sessions focusing on the energy transformation away from fossil fuels and toward renewables. He touted the EPA’s planned Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, proposed in August and designed to replace the Clean Power Plan created by the Obama Administration. The Clean Power Plan sought to reduce emissions from power plants by 32% below 2005 levels by 2030. 

“This will give states and the private sector the regulatory certainty they need to invest in new technologies to continue to provide affordable and reliable energy. When ACE is fully implemented, it will reduce U.S.’ power sectors’ CO2 emissions by 34% below 2005 levels.

Wheeler took a swipe at the Green New Deal, a congressional resolution proposed by House Democrats that aims to address climate change, instead offering that traditional energy sources can fuel the world’s emerging energy needs.

“Supporters of the Green New Deal, or plans like it, are not only oblivious to how far we’ve come, but also where we are headed,” he said.

Wheeler said a “much better deal” would be to focus on improving power generation and maximizing the inherit value of the world’s natural resources.

The EPA has recently initiated programs to monitor air emissions at oil producing sites as well as injection wells designed to store flowback water produced doing oil and gas production. Wheeler said the air monitoring program focuses on companies self-regulating and self-reporting.

“We are in the process of developing a new owner clean air act audit program tailored for the oil and natural gas sector,” he said. “We believe offering additional flexibility will make it easier for the regulated community to self-disclose and correct violations.”

Wheeler said that between FY 2017 and 2018, the number of oil and gas facilities that voluntarily disclosed violations and certified a return to compliance increased by 47%.

Speaking to reporters following his on-stage comments, Wheeler announced that he would sign this week a proposal to allow the year-round sales of ES 15, gasoline blended with 10% to 15% ethanol. During his visit to CERAWeek, Wheeler met with representatives of ABB, Microsoft, Emerson and Saudi Aramco to discuss sustainable innovation trends in the industry.

His comments came the same day as President Donald Trump’s 2020 budget proposal recommended cutting EPA funding by 31%, from $8.8 billion to $6.1 billion. Wheeler said the budget cuts affect duplicate and voluntary EPA programs.

“But we can certainly implement and complete our mission at that budget level,” he said.