If there can be such a thing as bureaucratic “shock and awe,” Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin tried to unleash it Wednesday.
He unveiled the Trump administration’s widely anticipated assault on regulation on all fronts at once, announcing 31 separate actions to roll back restrictions on air and water pollution, hand over more authority to states and relinquish EPA’s mandate to act on climate change under the Clean Air Act.
“These announcements represent the greatest and most consequential day of deregulation in the history of the United States,” an EPA representative wrote in one of a slew of press releases. Zeldin said the moves would lower the cost of living, create jobs, and revitalize the economy. In a video posted on the social media site X, Zeldin exulted over the plan to rescind the EPA’s 16-year-old determination that greenhouse gases are a danger to public health and welfare, known as the endangerment finding.
“I’ve been told the endangerment finding is considered the holy grail of the climate change religion,” said Zeldin, a former Congressman and Army intelligence officer. “For me, the US Constitution and the laws of this nation will be strictly interpreted and followed, no exceptions. Today, the green new scam ends.” Zeldin, who acknowledged the risks of climate change and sea level rise during his confirmation hearing, borrowed terms from Trump to describe the government actions designed to address the threat.
He said the moves would lower the cost of living, create jobs, and revitalize the economy. But environmental advocates voiced determination to fight back against an onslaught they warned would harm public health and set back the nation’s standard of living.