Mr. Zeldin, a 44-year-old lawyer and former Army lieutenant, has no experience in environmental policy. He entered politics in 2011 through the New York State Senate, where he served until 2014. That year, he was elected as the U.S. representative for the state’s 1st Congressional District, which includes most of Long Island.
As a lawmaker, Zeldin did not serve on subcommittees that oversee environmental policy. He has regularly voted against progressive climate and environmental policies, earning a lifetime score of just 14 percent from the League of Conservation Voters, an advocacy group that tracks legislators’ positions on environmental legislation. In 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, he voted against an amendment that would have blocked the EPA from finalizing Trump-era soot standards. The standards would expose communities of color to more air pollution, which studies have linked to increased death rates from the coronavirus. This amendment was ultimately passed.
In 2021, Zeldin voted against a bill that would have required public companies to disclose information about the climate risks of their business models. That bill was also passed. The following year, he sponsored an unsuccessful bill that would have canceled the United States’ participation in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Convention is a process that promotes international cooperation on climate policy and includes participation in the annual United Nations Climate Conference.
Notably, Zeldin advocated setting drinking water standards for PFAS and PFOA, so-called “forever chemicals” that accumulate in the environment and are linked to various cancers and other serious illnesses. He voted in favor of the bill requiring the EPA. health problems. Last year, local news outlets found traces of these chemicals in the drinking water of 33 of Long Island’s 48 water districts.
In 2022, Zeldin ran for governor of New York, but lost to Hochul.
Zeldin’s appointment marks the retirement of current Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, whose term expires when President Trump takes office in January. Unlike Zeldin, Regan has a background in environmental science and, prior to his appointment as administrator, served as administrator of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and worked as an air quality expert for the EPA. As EPA administrator, he oversaw the Biden administration’s historic efforts toward environmental justice, including community engagement sessions, strengthening national standards for particulate matter, and reviewing regulations for many chemical plants.
It remains to be seen whether and to what extent the Reagan initiatives and regulations will survive the years of the second Trump administration. Mr. Zeldin’s nomination must be approved by a vote in the Senate, where Republicans won a majority in an election earlier this month.
If confirmed, Mr. Zeldin would have significant power in shaping the national direction of climate and environmental policy. In addition to overseeing the enforcement of current environmental laws and regulations, he will also be tasked with developing EPA’s annual budget. The budget will determine how much money will be allocated for efforts such as national surveillance and air monitoring. More fossil-fuel-minded administrators will dismantle these parts of government to allow industry-friendly state agencies like the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to regulate in the dark. may choose to do so.
Mr. Trump ran on a platform that prioritized minimizing regulatory oversight and maximizing fossil fuel production. Zeldin’s appointment will be key to determining that.
