EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, a William Floyd graduate and former South Shore congressman, has been ramping up his media presence in recent days, advancing President Trump’s agenda to dismantle what he calls “wasteful, self-dealing” green energy initiatives and reinstate a common-sense approach to environmental regulation.
Appearing on national news programs and Congressional hearings, Zeldin defended the Environmental Protection Agency’s recent rollback of billions of dollars in climate grants issued under the Biden administration during the transition period before President Trump took office, describing them as “gold bars tossed off the Titanic.”
According to Zeldin, $20 billion was funneled to pass-through entities with minimal oversight and rife with conflicts of interest. “It’s been frozen, canceled, and is now under legal review. We’re not just warning about action—we’ve already taken it.”
The Administrator was especially critical of congressional Democrats during his testimony and subsequent interviews, accusing Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Ed Markey of engineering a “con job on the American taxpayer” through what he described as a “Green Slush Fund.” He emphasized that the EPA’s statutory mission remains intact but with a redirected focus: “We proudly fulfill our legal obligations, including removing lead from water—but we won’t be complicit in funneling public funds into political pet projects that deliver no results for the American people.”
During a recent Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing, Zeldin engaged in a heated exchange with Senator Adam Schiff over the targeted reductions. Schiff criticized a planned 55% cut in EPA funding, asserting it would lead to increased pollution and health risks, including various forms of cancer.
Defending the measures, Zeldin emphasized the need for fiscal responsibility and dismissed Schiff’s concerns as exaggerated, suggesting that the senator was engaging in political theatrics rather than constructive dialogue.
In addition to the $20 billion terminated climate fund, Zeldin said his office has canceled another $2 billion in smaller grants after multiple rounds of internal review. “We’re doing this on behalf of the American public. The Green New Deal framework is designed to bankrupt this country in the name of climate justice, and we’re here to stop that,” declared Zeldin, an Army veteran who’s a Lieutenant Colonel in the reserves.
“The Green New Deal is one of the issues where in the name of climate change, there's a willingness to bankrupt this country,” Zeldin continued. “In the name of environmental justice, instead of spending a dollar on remediating an environmental issue, they'll spend a dollar on a left-wing advocacy group to tell us the next dollar should get spent on remediating the environmental issue.”
Zeldin also celebrated recent Congressional action to overturn California’s electric vehicle (EV) mandate, which was poised to influence auto markets nationwide. “We should promote consumer choice, not restrict it,” he said. “If someone wants to drive an EV, that’s their choice. But we’re not going to let California set national policy through regulatory overreach.”
The bills, passed by both chambers under the Congressional Review Act, not only rescind California’s EPA waiver to impose EV quotas but also prevent any future administration from reinstating similar rules. Zeldin hailed this as a “huge win for consumer freedom and national consistency.”
Governor Gavin Newsom has threatened to challenge the rollback in court, but Zeldin dismissed the likelihood of long-term success, noting that any such lawsuit could alienate critical swing states in a national election: “Try selling that in Michigan. Good luck.”
As Zeldin continues to defend the Trump administration’s environmental pivot, his role is quickly becoming one of the more high-profile in the federal government, signaling a broader shift toward aggressive regulatory reform and a rejection of Biden-era climate policies.