Zeldin Picked to Lead EPA, Lighthizer Not Asked to Tackle Trade

NPR’s Elena Moore reported Monday that “President-elect Donald Trump has tapped former New York congressman Lee Zeldin to run the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The nomination for EPA administrator will need confirmation from the Senate, where Republicans are poised to hold a majority of seats next term.”

“‘[Zeldin] will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses,’ Trump said in a statement released Monday afternoon, adding that Zeldin will still maintain ‘the highest environmental standards,'” according to Moore’s reporting. “Environmental groups decried the nomination as a step backward for environmental policy.”

“On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly vowed to increase domestic production of oil and natural gas. He also criticized Democratic-led incentives for electric vehicles and pledged to reduce current climate spending,” Moore reported. “Zeldin pointed to some of those priorities in a post on the social media site X, confirming the pick. ‘We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI,’ Zeldin said. ‘We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water.'”

Progressive Farmer’s Todd Neeley reported Tuesday that “Zeldin opposed biofuels and the RFS when he served in the U.S. House of Representatives during Trump’s first term as well as at the end of President Barack Obama’s first administration. In addition, Zeldin has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in political campaign contributions from the oil and gas sector.

“Opensecrets.org shows that between 2007 and 2024, Zeldin received $269,608 from the industry,” Neeley reported. “When it comes to the RFS, Zeldin has joined other House colleagues in sending various letters to the EPA in opposition to proposed volumes increases.”

Zeldin’s Past Environmental Voting Record

Reuters’ Timothy Gardner and David Shepardson reported Monday that “during his time in Congress from 2015 to 2023 as a Representative from New York, Zeldin cast ‘yes’ votes on key pieces of environmental legislation just 14% of the time, according to a scorecard by environmental group the League of Conservation Voters.”

“The average score in the House of Representatives in 2022, Zeldin’s last year in Congress, was 52%. But his lifetime score topped the 4% average of the four Republican House leaders that year,” Gardner and Shepardson reported. “Zeldin voted against Biden’s landmark climate change law, the Inflation Reduction Act, which got no Republican votes, and rejected legislation that would crack down on price gouging by oil companies.”

Progressive Farmer’s Neeley reported in a different article that “perhaps most notably, Zeldin said in April 2018 that he did not support the Paris Agreement in its then-current form. Trump has indicated he would pull the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement. He expressed concern about ‘other countries that are contributing to very adverse impacts on our climate but not having the level of responsibility that they need to have in stepping up and making a positive change in their own countries,’ according to an April 25, 2018, story by Bloomberg.”

Looking forward to getting straight to work as part of President Trump’s Cabinet to unleash US energy dominance, make America the AI capital of the world, bring American auto jobs back home, and so much more. pic.twitter.com/zGGLIRMrd6

— Lee Zeldin (@leezeldin) November 12, 2024

“‘During the confirmation process, we would challenge Lee Zeldin to show how he would be better than Trump’s campaign promises or his own failing 14% environmental score if he wants to be charged with protecting the air we breathe, the water we drink, and finding solutions to climate change,’ said Tiernan Sittenfeld, a senior vice president at the League of Conservation Voters,” according to Gardner and Shepardson’s reporting.

Lighthizer Not Asked to Return For Trade Post

Reuters reported last week that “former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has not been asked by President-elect Donald Trump to return to the agency overseeing trade policy in his new administration, contrary to a Financial Times report, two sources familiar with the matter said.”

“The FT earlier reported that Lighthizer had been asked to lead Trump’s trade policy from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, citing unnamed people familiar with the talks among the Trump transition team,” Reuters reported. “One of the two sources familiar with the matter called the report ‘untrue.’ The sources spoke on condition of anonymity. Lighthizer declined to comment on the report and on deliberations within Trump’s transition team about cabinet positions. The longtime Washington trade lawyer advised Trump’s 2024 campaign.”