Since former President Donald Trump won reelection on November 5, he has been busy assigning his friends and sycophants to different roles within the federal government. That includes former congressman Lee Zeldin, a Trump ally, who will now lead in the internal dismantling of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Trump campaigned on pledges to “kill” and “cancel” the EPA’s rules and regulations meant to combat global warming by regulating how much pollution our cars, businesses and industries are pumping into the atmosphere, according to the New York Times. Of particular interest or concern to car enthusiasts is the fact Trump wants to undo all of the Biden administration’s climate rules that are meant to further the adoption of electric vehicles. Zeldin – a man whose most notable accomplishment is losing the New York governor’s race by 6.4 points – will oversee all of this. Oh, he also voted against certifying the 2020 election results when Trump lost, and helped mount Trump’s impeachment defense, so there’s that. It sure feels like Trump is just rewarding a loyal guy, but who can really know what’s going on inside that pretty little head of his?
Here’s more on what the 44-year-old is tasked with doing at the EPA, according to Bloomberg:
The EPA will play a direct role in Trump’s pledges to speed the construction of gas-fired power plants and curb President Joe Biden-era regulations that reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from the electric and transportation sectors.
Zeldin would take office with a sweeping mandate to roll back several rules targeting power plant pollution. The measures are seen as hastening the closure of coal-fired power plants, even as US demand for electricity soars to serve data centers, factories and other needs. The agency pulled a similar maneuver during Trump’s first term in office, easing former President Barack Obama’s sweeping Clean Power Plan and replacing it with more lenient pollution targets.
Here’s what the former Republican congressman who represented eastern Long Island from 2015-2023 and Trump had to say, from the Times:
“It is an honor to join President Trump’s Cabinet as EPA Administrator,” Mr. Zeldin wrote on X. “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI. We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water.”
Just a quick note: I don’t know what AI has to do with the environment (other than it isn’t good for it), but it’s nice to see Zeldin is already focused on the task at hand. Anyway, back to the statements:
In a statement, Mr. Trump said Mr. Zeldin would “ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.”
Mr. Trump added that Mr. Zeldin would “set new standards on environmental review and maintenance that will allow the United States to grow in a healthy and well-structured way.”
Zeldin’s record on the environment is mixed at best, as Bloomberg explains:
In 2018, he joined a bipartisan delegation of New York lawmakers including Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, to call on then-Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke to oppose drilling off the coast of Long Island.
The League of Conservation Voters has given Zeldin a lifetime score of only 14% for routinely voting against environmental legislation while in Congress. In his final year in office, in 2022, his score was only 5%.
This pick makes sense if you look at it from a stupid person’s point of view. I mean, Trump has long rallied against the EPA and what it does. He’s pointed the finger at the agency for holding a number of industries back, like construction and gas drilling, according to the Times. In his first term, Trump rolled back over 100 environmental policies and regulations. Biden stepped in and restored many of them, but it looks like that work will be undone.
Folks, we live in Hell, but at least I still get to blog from down here.