Of all the federal government businesses that President-elect Donald J. Trump has threatened to shrink or get rid of, maybe none has been a larger goal than the Environmental Safety Company.
Throughout the first Trump administration, the nation’s prime regulator of air and water air pollution and industrial chemical substances noticed its funds slashed, resulting in an exodus of staff and weakened enforcement of environmental guidelines.
This time, Mr. Trump might go additional.
President Biden rebuilt the E.P.A. and used it to enact two highly effective local weather rules aimed toward reducing greenhouse fuel emissions from tailpipes and energy vegetation. However Mr. Trump has already promised to “kill” the company’s local weather rules, and folks near the Trump transition have really useful ousting E.P.A. profession workers, eliminating its scientific advisers, and shutting an workplace that helps minority communities that disproportionately wrestle with polluted air and water. There’s even dialogue of transferring E.P.A. headquarters and its 7,000 staff out of Washington, presumably to Texas or Florida, as a approach to shed staff.
The person who would perform the dismantling is a former congressman from New York, Lee Zeldin, who is ready to seem Thursday morning earlier than the Senate Committee on Atmosphere and Public Works.
The nomination of Mr. Zeldin baffled many, since he has little background in environmental regulation.
However Mr. Zeldin, 44, who ran unsuccessfully for governor of New York in 2022, is a Trump supporter who voted in opposition to certifying the outcomes of the 2020 election. Pals say he has an extended and constant reference to the president-elect.
“They’ve a novel bond,” stated Chris Berardini, a Republican lobbyist . “Republicans in New York are usually all the time shut. It’s a really lonely fraternity.”
The 2 males have one thing else in widespread, Mr. Berardini stated. Final summer time, Mr. Trump survived an assassination try at a marketing campaign occasion. In 2022, Mr. Zeldin was attacked by a person with a pointed weapon at a marketing campaign occasion. “These are the delicate threads that weave into a private relationship,” Mr. Berardini stated.
Whereas Mr. Zeldin is just not skilled in environmental regulation, he and his allies level to his years representing his Lengthy Island district, which included miles of shoreline and had a bipartisan custom of environmental conservation.
On the similar time, Mr. Zeldin seems to have embraced Mr. Trump’s seemingly contradictory place: he says he desires clear air and water whereas he plans to erase rules that guarantee each, together with limits on the emissions of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels which can be linked to stronger droughts, wildfires, floods.
Upon accepting the nomination to move the E.P.A., Mr. Zeldin wrote on X, “We are going to restore US vitality dominance, revitalize our auto business to deliver again American jobs, and make the US the worldwide chief of AI. We are going to accomplish that by defending clear air and water.”
Senator Shelley Moore Capito, Republican of West Virginia, who chairs the setting committee, stated Wednesday on Fox Enterprise Information of Mr. Zeldin that “By being the consultant from New York, he’s seen all several types of clear air, clear water points, and the easiest way to resolve these issues.”
However Ms. Capito, whose house state is a serious producer of coal and pure fuel, additionally seems assured that Mr. Zeldin will execute Mr. Trump’s plans.
In a Fb publish final month, Ms. Capito wrote, “Congressman Zeldin understands the necessity to roll again regulatory overreach, unleash American vitality, and permit Individuals to construct once more — all whereas defending public well being and the setting. His talent set is properly suited to implement the agenda of President Trump. ”
Mr. Zeldin has not stated a lot about whether or not he accepts the established science of local weather change however he was a member of the bipartisan Local weather Options Caucus in Congress. Nonetheless, he voted in opposition to the Inflation Discount Act, the nation’s first main local weather regulation, which pumped no less than $370 billion into clear vitality applications.
When Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York criticized Mr. Zeldin, he responded on social media, saying, “I simply voted NO as a result of the invoice sucks.”
Throughout Mr. Zeldin’s tenure within the Home, he voted in opposition to clear water laws no less than a dozen instances and clear air laws no less than half a dozen instances, in accordance with a scorecard by the League of Conservation Voters, an environmental group.
Nonetheless, he has boasted about securing federal funds to enhance the well being of Lengthy Island Sound, and he voted for a invoice that might require the E.P.A. to set limits on PFAS, damaging chemical substances which can be persistent within the setting and the human physique. The E.P.A. below the Biden administration has set strict limits on chemical substances in consuming water.In 2020, he voted in opposition to laws to slash E.P.A.’s funds.
Senator Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, a senior Democrat on the setting committee, stated he met with Mr. Zeldin Tuesday and had “a great, candid dialog.”
Nonetheless Mr. Markey questioned his {qualifications} to run the E.P.A., and expressed skepticism about his dedication to protect the air and water from polluting industries.
“I’m not satisfied his prime precedence is defending communities and our surroundings,” Mr. Markey stated.
On local weather change, Mr. Markey stated Mr. Zeldin “stated he believed that human exercise contributes to local weather change.” However he stated, “My questions go to what the E.P.A. priorities could be below his management.”
Lisa Friedman contributed reporting.
