Former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin, President-elect Donald Trump‘s nominee to be the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, enjoyed a fairly easy confirmation hearing Thursday.
Zeldin, in testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said he would pursue Trump’s deregulatory agenda while also ensuring the health of the environment.
“We must ensure we are protecting the environment while also protecting the economy,” Zeldin said in his opening remarks. “The EPA must be better stewards of tax dollars, honor cooperative federalism, and be transparent and accountable to the Congress and the public.
“We can and we must, protect our precious environment without suffocating the economy,” Zeldin said. “A big part of this will require building private sector collaboration to promote common sense, smart regulation that will allow American innovation to continue to lead the world.”
Zeldin, 44, was an unexpected nominee to head up the agency when Trump announced his pick shortly after winning the 2024 election.
At the time he nominated Zeldin, Trump described the Republican as a “true fighter for America First policies,” indicating he would play a key role in reversing a number of controversial EPA rules issued during the Biden administration.
Even so, Zeldin endured relatively few tough questions from Democratic senators during Thursday’s hearing, while Republicans offered support, indicating that he is on track to win confirmation to the post.
In particular, the Trump administration is expected to take aim at the EPA’s power plant pollution rule, which went into effect in July 2024, targeting carbon pollution from power plants to limit greenhouse gas emissions. The rule specifically orders operating coal plants and new natural-gas-fired plants to reduce emissions by 90% by 2032 through the use of carbon capture and storage technologies.
Committee Chairwoman Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) faulted the Biden administration for driving up electricity prices and asked Zeldin if he would take into account reliability and energy affordability as head of the EPA.
He answered, “Yes, absolutely.”
Zeldin said the agency would honor the Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo ruling to “make sure that it is, in fact, Congress’s intent that is being implemented and it is not us as an agency filling in any gaps.”
The Loper Bright ruling, handed down last year, overturned the Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council doctrine, which allowed judges to defer to the agencies’ interpretations of their statutory authority when the law was unclear. Conservatives criticized the Chevron deference as giving bureaucrats excessive authority in implementing rules.
The GOP-led EPA is also projected to walk back many climate rules implementing fees on methane emissions from petroleum and natural gas facilities that exceed certain thresholds and the agency’s vehicle emission standards that have since been dubbed an “EV mandate” by Republican critics.
However, Zeldin said it would be a “top priority” for him to work with lawmakers on addressing the pollution of “forever chemicals,” also known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, which can be found in a number of consumer products, such as clothing and cookware.
When he was in Congress, Zeldin was part of the House PFAS task force.
Meanwhile, Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) cited that in a 2016 hearing, Zeldin said there were “many different ways that we can be better stewards of our environment. The key is to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, to become more environmentally friendly and pursue clean and green ventures.”
Markey asked whether Zeldin still believes in reducing the country’s reliance on fossil fuels.
“I support ‘all of the above,'” Zeldin said. “In an ideal world, we would be able to pursue the cleanest, greenest energy sources possible.”
Markey listed natural disasters affecting the United States, including the wildfires in Los Angeles. “The threat of climate change has not gone away,” he said.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) noted that Trump has called climate change a hoax. He asked Zeldin if he shares that view.
“Climate change is real,” Zeldin said.