The next head of the Environmental Protection Agency will be former New York Congressman Lee Zeldin.
He was chosen by President-elect Donald Trump but apparently doesn’t have much environmental experience. The GOP Representative, however, is a longtime supporter of Trump. In the first Trump administration, former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt was chosen to run the agency.
“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,” he said in a statement on X.
President Trump said with Zeldin as EPA administrator, American businesses will see improvements.
“He will 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,” Trump said in a statement. “He will set new standards on environmental review and maintenance, that will allow the United States to grow in a healthy and well-structured way.”
He said Zeldin would also ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions to “unlease the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.”
Zeldin served in the U.S. House as a representative of Long Island from 2015 to 2023 before he made an unsuccessful bid for governor, losing to New York Governor Kathy Hochul.
Zeldin represented Long Island in the House of Representatives from 2015 to 2023 before he left to run for governor. During his time in Congress he frequently voted against environmental-friendly bills.
Environmentalists were critical of his voting record on environmental issues claiming he voted against legislation to protect the environment at a nearly 85% rate.
As EPA administrator, Zeldin will face the challenge of overturning several of the Biden administration’s biggest EPA rules, reported CNN, including tailpipe regulations for vehicles and those aimed at slashing pollution from power plants and oil and gas producers.
Intervieewed on Fox News, he said he will pull back what he called “left-wing” regulations and instead focus on “unleashing economic prosperity.”