Fresh off a long fought victory to rid the EPA of the scandal-plagued Scott Pruitt, Democrats and environmental groups have already turned their attention to the next head of the agency that is charged with protecting the nation’s air and water.

And while Pruitt’s ethical lapses provided easy fodder for their effort to oppose the Trump administration’s environmental record, the new leadership at the EPA — for the time being, Deputy Administrator Andrew Wheeler — brings years of steady Washington experience to the position, making the upcoming battles more about policy than personality.

“Elevating former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler to head the EPA is only trading one fossil fuel friend for another,” said Sen. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass. “We must continue to fight the fossil-fuel entrenched interests that have gripped the EPA and want to undermine the public’s health and progress on climate action.”

The top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Thomas R. Carper of Delaware, led the Senate opposition to Wheeler’s 53-45 confirmation in April. But on Thursday, after Pruitt’s resignation, he said he would meet with Wheeler “to understand how he intends to get to work immediately to restore the public’s trust in the Environmental Protection Agency.”

He may already have the answer to his questions if Wheeler’s past is any indicator for his future atop the agency.