What happened: President-elect Donald Trump chose a former U.S. Congressman with a thin record on environmental issues to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

In his announcement Monday, Trump said that Lee Zeldin would enact “swift deregulatory decisions” at the agency.

Why it matters: The EPA is the federal agency responsible for writing and enforcing regulations to protect public health and the environment. By prioritizing allegiance above actual qualifications, Trump is signaling disinterest in the mission of the EPA and an intention to weaken the agency along the lines of the Project 2025 blueprint.

As the leading public interest environmental law organization, Earthjustice is concerned about this appointment’s impact on our fight for clean air, clean water, and a healthy environment for all.

Earthjustice President Abbie Dillen issued the following statement:

“We need a steady, experienced hand at EPA to marshal federal resources to fight climate change and utilize the full power of the law to protect communities from toxic pollution. Lee Zeldin is not that person. His loyalty to Donald Trump indicates he will gladly take a sledgehammer to EPA’s most recent lifesaving regulations, putting politics over science and endangering our communities. It is clear President-Elect Trump is prioritizing loyalty above actual qualifications to address environmental concerns.”

What is Lee Zeldin’s environmental record?

• Anti-environmental voting history: Zeldin served four terms in Congress representing Long Island, New York. His voting record over that time received a meagre 14% approval rating from the League of Conservation Voters. He voted to end Clean Air Act standards and, most recently, opposed the Inflation Reduction Act, the landmark climate investment law.
• Pushing to bring back fracking: In 2022, Zeldin proposed repealing New York’s ban on fracking for natural gas and approving new gas pipelines.
• Role in bipartisan climate efforts: Zeldin was a member of the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus and Conservative Climate Caucus, as well as the bipartisan PFAS Task Force. Upon joining the bipartisan climate caucus in 2016, Zeldin declared one of his top priorities to “safeguard our environment.”
• In his own words: “It is an honor to join President Trump’s Cabinet as EPA Administrator,” Zeldon wrote on X. “We will restore U.S. energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI. We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water.”

What does the EPA do and what is its impact?

• Pollution protections: The EPA is the government agency authorized by Congress to craft and enforce environmental protections that safeguard our air and water from pollution. Stronger protections mean cleaner air and cleaner water for all.
• Public health information: The agency is also an investigative and research body that releases information on emissions, industry pollution, or chemicals to warn the public about risks.
• Enforcement: If polluters violate environmental rules, the EPA can levy fines or shut down projects.
• Earthjustice watchdogs the EPA: We filed numerous lawsuits against the first Trump administration’s EPA for failing to follow its own rules and rolling back protections for our air, water, and environment.

How Project 2025 targets the EPA

• Weaken the Clean Air Act: Project 2025, the policy playbook for the Trump administration, would nix the part of the law that requires the EPA to set health-based air quality standards.
• Trust the chemical companies: Project 2025 tells the EPA to be more open to industry science and to stop funding major research into toxic chemical exposure.
• Make it harder to regulate chemicals: The plan calls for the EPA to meet an absurdly high standard of proof that a chemical is hazardous before deciding to regulate it. This would give chemical companies greater freedom to put toxic substances into our air, water, and products.
• Weaken environmental justice policies: The plan calls for disbanding offices with the Department of Justice and the EPA that focus on environmental justice.

The danger of deregulation

• Protections keep us safe: We need robust environmental protections to hold violators accountable in court and to keep our air clean, our water clear, and our environment safe.
• Unfit to lead EPA: Lee Zeldin has very little experience on environmental issues. Trump’s pick signals that the administration aims to further his deregulatory agenda by weakening the agency’s power and putting industry interests above clean air, clean water, and public health.
• What we’ll do: With more than 200 lawyers, Earthjustice is prepared to push back in court on illegal efforts to gut the agency.