Lee Zeldin, former New York Congressman, former candidate for Governor of New York, and graduate of William Floyd High School sat through several hours of Senate confirmation hearings for his nomination to be EPA Administrator under incoming President Donald Trump.
Zeldin was not treated as harshly as Pam Bondi, the Attorney General nominee. He was pressed on whether he believes climate change is real and on issues around drilling and car emission requirements, but, by and large, the hearing was respectful.
Democrat senators did not attack Zeldin – perhaps because he is a former Congressional colleague or perhaps because they know he will be confirmed and their attempts to undermine other well-qualified nominees have fallen flat.
Maybe there is a bit of resignation that the incoming president has the right to have the cabinet he wants assuming basic qualifications. If they weren’t successful in torpedoing Pete Hegseth and Pam Bondi, attacking mild-mannered Lee Zeldin wasn’t going to gain any ground.
Zeldin presented a balanced approach to the role. He emphasized that the economy and the environment can co-exist and one does not trump the other.
“We must ensure we are protecting the environment while also protecting the economy,” Zeldin said in his opening remarks. “The EPA must be better stewards of tax dollars, honor cooperative federalism, and be transparent and accountable to the Congress and the public.
"The EPA must be better stewards of tax dollars, honor cooperative federalism and be transparent and accountable to Congress and the public," Zeldin said in his opening statement. "We can and we must protect our precious environment without suffocating the economy."
Zeldin said it would be a “top priority” for him to work with lawmakers on addressing the pollution of “forever chemicals,” also known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, which can be found in a number of consumer products, such as clothing and cookware.
PFAS are well known to him as a Long Islander from Suffolk County. Zeldin was part of the House PFAS task force when he was in Congress.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) did try to trip Zeldin up by bringing forward a 2016 hearing where Zeldin said there were “many different ways that we can be better stewards of our environment. The key is to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, to become more environmentally friendly and pursue clean and green ventures.”
Markey asked whether Zeldin still believes in reducing the country’s reliance on fossil fuels. Again, Zeldin took a calm and balanced position.
“I support ‘all of the above,'” Zeldin said. “In an ideal world, we would be able to pursue the cleanest, greenest energy sources possible.”
Zeldin also strongly stated his firm support in the Supreme Court’s landmark decision last year overturning Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council doctrine, which had been widely panned because it gave bureaucrats authority to create and implement rules that were not explicitly authorized and approved by Congress.
Zeldin said that under his watch the EPA agency would honor the Supreme Court overturning Chevron and “make sure that it is, in fact, Congress’s intent that is being implemented and it is not us as an agency filling in any gaps.”
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) peppered Zeldin with questions about whether he believed Climate Change was real. Whitehouse wanted to know if Zeldin believes the United States needs to reduce its emissions to address climate change. Zeldin responded by saying that the United States has already significantly reduced emissions while China continues to build coal-fired power plants.
"Unfortunately, there are other countries where it is not going in the same direction, and I would say that we will have never done enough to ensure that our water and our air is clean, safe, and healthy. Whatever we do every day to achieve this objective, we need to wake up the next day looking for ways to do more," Zeldin said.
It is expected that Zeldin will be confirmed and perhaps get a few Democrat votes.