US President Donald Trump said Friday he intended to nominate a former coal and energy industry lobbyist to head the Environmental Protection Agency.

Andrew Wheeler has been acting head of the EPA since Scott Pruitt resigned in July amid a flurry of ethics scandals over his spending and conduct in office.

During an informal moment at a medal ceremony in the White House, Trump commended Wheeler's work and said he is "going to be made permanent" at the EPA.

Such appointments for cabinet positions still require Senate approval, which will likely not be a problem in the Republican-held chamber.

Wheeler, like Pruitt before him, has worked systematically to undo many of the environmental regulations put in place by Trump's Democratic predecessor Barack Obama.

Among these are the scrapping of anti-pollution rules for coal-fired power plants and the launch of a procedure to soften emissions standards for cars after 2025.

Such measures are facing challenges in the courts.

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Pakistan goes against the grain with coal power spree
Islamkot, Pakistan (AFP) Nov 15, 2018
In Pakistan's bleak Thar desert, the roar of trucks is constant at a massive Chinese-backed coal power project the government sees as an answer to chronic energy shortages, but which activists warn is an environmental disaster. Machines are running round the clock to finish the mine and coal power plant, a flagship project of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) plan that has seen Beijing provide billions of dollars in financing to its southwestern neighbour. Much of it is for infrastruct ... read more