Trump Picks Ex-congressman Zeldin to Run Environmental Protection Agency

November 12, 2024

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by Timothy Gardner and David Shepardson (Reuters) Zeldin voted against Biden's climate change law; Opposed NY goal to ban gasoline-powered cars by 2035; In Congress, Zeldin backed environmental bills 14% of the time -- U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Monday he will appoint Republican former Congressman Lee Zeldin, who often voted against legislation on green issues including a measure to stop oil companies from price gouging, to head the Environmental Protection Agency.

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Trump, a Republican, will likely look to reverse many rules administered by the EPA on the burning of fossil fuels including one curbing carbon emissions from power plants and another slashing such emissions from vehicles.

Trump has said he plans to begin rescinding EPA and Transportation Department vehicle pollution rules on his first day in office and is considering paring back or eliminating EV tax breaks and other incentives.

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Trump also plans to rescind California's ability to set its own vehicle emissions rules, as he did in 2019.

President Joe Biden, a Democrat, reinstated California's authority. Trump will also decide how to spend billions of dollars in EV charging grants.

As a candidate for New York governor in the 2022 election, Zeldin criticized the state's decision to join California's Zero Emission Vehicle program that vows to end the sale of gasoline-powered only vehicles by 2035. READ MORE

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Excerpt from CNN: One of Zeldin’s first tasks will likely be starting the process to overturn several of the Biden EPA’s biggest rules on climate, including tailpipe regulations for vehicles and rules aimed at slashing pollution from power plants and oil and gas producers.

Zeldin most recently chaired the China policy initiative at the America First Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank founded to promote Trump’s agenda, where he had written on national security threats posed by China.

Zeldin on Monday told Fox News that he will pull back “left-wing” regulations and focus on “unleashing economic prosperity” through the agency.

“President Trump, when he called me up, gosh, he was rattling off 15, 20 different priorities, a clear focus. He wasn’t reading off of some sheet, it’s the top of his head. And if I challenged him to give me 50 more ideas of what to do with this agency to improve the economy, I’m confident he would have done that,” Zeldin said shortly after the announcement was made. READ MORE

Excerpt from Washington Post: “Lee, with a very strong legal background, has been a true fighter for America First policies,” Trump said in a statement Monday. “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.”

Zeldin, 44, served four terms representing Long Island before losing the New York governor’s race to Democratic rival Kathy Hochul in 2022. A lawyer by trade, he lacks an extensive background in environmental policy.

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During the race for governor, Zeldin criticized many of Hochul’s climate and energy policies. He called for reversing a ban on fracking in New York, and he described her policies pushing for the adoption of electric cars and electric heating “out of touch.” READ MORE

Excerpt fromAgWeb: He lacks extensive experience in environmental policy, having not served on committees with direct oversight of environmental issues during his time in Congress.

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Zeldin joined Trump and Sen.-elect Dave McCormick in Pennsylvania for a roundtable on agriculture during Trump’s campaign in September. Zeldin praised Trump for addressing the “threat” of foreign entities buying U.S. agricultural land and highlighted Trump’s trade policies, including the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which prioritized American farmers and strengthened supply chain resiliency.

Of note to the biofuels sector, In November 2015, Zeldin and several other members of Congress sent a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy expressing concerns about the proposed 2016 Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. The lawmakers worried that the proposed 2016 RVOs would require blending more ethanol than could be absorbed by the E10 gasoline market, effectively “breaking through” the blend wall. There were concerns that exceeding the blend wall could drive up the price of E10 gasoline for consumers. Ultimately, the EPA did finalize 2016 RVOs that were lower than originally proposed in the RFS statute, but still represented an increase over previous years. The agency attempted to balance the competing interests and technical constraints in the fuel market. READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico's Power Switch: President-elect Donald Trump blindsided the climate world Monday by choosing a personal ally with a mixed conservation record and little regulatory experience to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.

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At the same time, his past acknowledgments that climate change is real and support for crackdowns on some toxic chemicals don’t entirely match Trump’s campaign rhetoric — even if Zeldin cast a lot of votes against climate and clean air and water legislation.

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The former lawmaker also took an active interest in the health of the Long Island Sound and in empowering EPA to ban harmful “forever chemicals.” And he bucked his party in supporting the Department of Defense’s authority to plan for climate change. READ MORE

Excerpt from DTN Progressive Farmer: When it comes to President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, the oil industry and others who have opposed the Renewable Fuel Standard will have a sympathetic ear at the head of the agency.

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.

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.

For instance, Zeldin signed a Nov. 4, 2015, letter from 184 House members to then-EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, expressing concern about the proposed 2016 RFS volumes and asking the agency to keep blending requirements below the "E10 blend wall."

"Increased fuel efficiency has led to shrinking gasoline demand," the letter said.

"This current reality, coupled with an increasing biofuels blending level requirement has exacerbated the onset of the E10 blend wall -- the point at which the gasoline supply is saturated with the maximum amount of ethanol that the current vehicle fleet, marine and other small engines and refueling infrastructure can safely accommodate. We are gravely concerned, however, that despite the agency's recognition of the blend wall, the 2016 proposal acknowledges that it will be breached nonetheless."

The members of Congress also claimed the 2016 volume requirements were not going to be met absent of building out infrastructure to sell more E15 and E85.

"Therefore, this proposal is problematic not only in principle, but it is also impractical since it would take decades, not months, to build out the compatible vehicle fleet and install the necessary retail infrastructure to accommodate the higher blends of ethanol," the letter said.

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During the first Trump administration, Zeldin continued to oppose the RFS. In 2017, Zeldin cosponsored an unsuccessful bill to repeal the law.

Zeldin also signed a letter with 26 other members of Congress on Oct. 3, 2018, to then-EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler expressing "significant concern" about proposed 2019 RFS volumes.

"The proposed RVO would constitute a breach of the ethanol blend wall," the letter said, "jeopardizing automobile reliability and harming American consumers."

The ethanol industry still awaits action either from the EPA or Congress to make national E15 sales permanent year-round.

The 2018 letter signed by Zeldin raises questions about the validity of higher ethanol blends.

"EPA acknowledges that its RVO proposals are intended to increase the use of higher ethanol blends in order to meet the (RFS) mandate," the letter said. "However, blends like E15 and E85 raise concerns and now prove to be impractical and unnecessary."

In response to Zeldin's nomination, Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor said in a statement to DTN, "As Rep. Zeldin moves through the confirmation process, we look forward to discussing how biofuels like ethanol can help unleash American energy dominance and innovation while saving consumers money and maintaining environmental standards."

Geoff Cooper, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, said in a statement to DTN that ethanol producers are hopeful the Trump EPA will re-examine policies supporting electric vehicles.

"We are hopeful that President Trump's EPA will prioritize efficient implementation of the Renewable Fuel Standard, opening the market to higher-octane ethanol blends like E15, and revisiting regulations that force automakers to ramp up production of costly electric vehicles," Cooper said. "Our nation's economic and environmental goals can be achieved by simply empowering greater use of lower-cost, lower-carbon liquid fuels in more affordable internal-combustion-engine vehicles."

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As a member of Congress, Zeldin voted against the Inflation Reduction Act that passed the House on Aug. 15, 2022 (https://www.dtnpf.com/…), which included many significant provisions for farmers and ranchers.

The bill that became law spends hundreds of billions of dollars on climate initiatives including programs for climate-smart agriculture and renewable energy projects.

The law also includes hundreds of millions of dollars for installing blender pumps and other infrastructure to expand biofuels blending.

In addition, it created a $1.25-per-gallon tax credit for sustainable aviation fuel for 2023 and 2024. READ MORE

Excerpt from Midwest Farm Report: Geoff Cooper, CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, says former New York congressman Lee Zeldin is not known for supporting biofuels. Now that President-elect Donald Trump has tapped him to run the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, will that change?

Cooper is optimistic that economic and political dynamics have changed in ethanol’s favor.

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“Frankly, we think ethanol can check a lot of boxes and meet a lot of goals that the incoming Trump administration has stated whether it’s putting American energy first… leveling the playing field for trade, lowering consumer costs at the pump — those are all things that renewable fuels can help with.”

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In addition, RFA wants to see support for Sustainable Aviation Fuel with a clear path forward on tax credits for SAF production. He says while the U.S. leads the world in ethanol production, we’re at risk of missing out on leading the world in new ethanol uses, such as SAF. READ MORE