Trump taps Lee Zeldin to lead EPA: NPR

Then-candidate Donald Trump participates in a roundtable discussion with former New York Republican U.S. Representative Lee Zeldin in the battleground state of Pennsylvania just days before voting closed.

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President-elect Donald Trump has tapped former New York congressman Lee Zeldin to lead the US Environmental Protection Agency.

The nomination for EPA administrator must be confirmed by 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 passed in a way that unleashes the power of corporate America,” Trump said in a statement released Monday afternoon, adding that Zeldin would still uphold “the highest environmental standards.”

Environmental groups rejected the nomination as a step backwards for environmental policy.

On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly promised to increase the domestic production of oil and natural gas. He too criticized democratically led incentives for electric vehicles and promised to reduce the current climate expenditure.

Zeldin pointed to some of those priorities in a post on social media X, confirming the choice.

“We will restore American energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the United States the global leader in artificial intelligence,” Zeldin said. “We will do that while protecting access to clean air and water.”

The New York Republican joins a growing list of individuals expected to be in Trump’s new administration.

Zeldin, who previously represented Long Island, ran an unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign two years ago against the state’s Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul.

Zeldin opposed a handful of climate-related legislation while serving in Congress, according to the environmental advocacy group League of Conservation Voters.

In a statement from Ben Jealous, who heads the environmental organization Sierra Club, he characterized Zeldin as “unqualified”.

“Our lives, our livelihoods and our collective future cannot afford Lee Zeldin,” he said, “or anyone who seeks to carry out a mission that is contrary to the mission of the EPA.”