“Is Lee Zeldin capable of standing against that Big Oil political juggernaut? Sadly, all signs point to no,” said the EPW Ranking Member 

Washington, D.C.— U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, spoke out forcefully against Lee Zeldin, President Trump’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.  At a Committee meeting this morning to vote on Zeldin’s nomination, Ranking Member Whitehouse recounted the nominee’s pay-to-play parroting of Big Oil talking points, connections to Trump-affiliated dark money operations, and lack of qualifications for the top job protecting our clean air, clean water, and safe climate.

As the costs and systemic risks from climate change keep mounting—raising prices for American families and threatening to cascade into economy-wide catastrophe—Ranking Member Whitehouse made clear that Zeldin does not have the “independence to lead the agency in a manner that will protect us against these looming dangers.”

Zeldin’s nomination passed out of Committee by a vote of 11-8 and is now headed to the full Senate for consideration.

Chairman Whitehouse’s remarks, as prepared for delivery:

Three days ago, President Trump took office.  As you’ll recall, one of his oft-repeated pledges over the last year was that he was going to lower costs for consumers.

Yet, on the first night of his second term in office, he signed a raft of anti-environmental executive orders that if implemented, will lead to higher prices for consumers and worse economic headwinds for our economy.

Let’s review.

He directed EPA to revisit rules that limit pollution from cars, trucks, and power plants.  If the Trump EPA rescinds these rules, consumers will pay thousands of dollars more for gasoline.  Hundreds of dollars a year more for their electric bill.  That’s money out of the pocket of almost every American, transferred into the pocket of the oil and gas industry.

He ordered a halt to offshore and onshore wind projects.  Wind energy is key to reducing pollution and achieving affordable, stable energy prices.  Less wind energy means more electricity demand met by combusting expensive and dirty fossil fuels.

He ordered a reversal of energy efficiency standards for household appliances.  These standards would save the average American over $100 per year. 

He ordered a dramatic reduction in the social cost of carbon, the metric used to estimate the harms – to public health, agriculture, and the economy – of a ton of carbon pollution.  A free-to-pollute business model serves the fossil fuel industry, but it’s morally, economically and environmentally wrong.

He ordered EPA to revisit whether greenhouse gases are pollutants under the Clean Air Act.  Reverse that finding, and there’s no way for EPA to reduce the pollution driving climateflation in insurance and groceries, raising sea levels and threatening homes all along our coastlines, fueling wildfires in Los Angeles and flooding in North Carolina, and posing a systemic risk to our entire economy.

The Trump agenda is to break down climate change protections so that his Big Oil donors can sell more oil and gas and pollute for free.

Which brings us to Lee Zeldin.  The question becomes, is Lee Zeldin capable of standing against that Big Oil political juggernaut?

Sadly, all signs point to no.  His consulting for Trump-affiliated organizations and his op-eds spouting Big Oil-approved talking points do not inspire confidence. 

He sits on the board of a Trump-affiliated dark money operation and won’t disclose its donors.  The American people deserve to know who the donors are, and so does EPA’s ethics team, to know whether the decisions he makes at EPA will be driven by donor interests or the public interest?

He did not disavow moving EPA’s headquarters, saying only that he hasn’t been told of any plans to move the EPA headquarters out of D.C. 

When asked if he supported traumatizing, or firing most of EPA’s staff, he equivocated, “I look forward to working with the talented career staff at EPA,” and “I look forward to working with the very talented career staff at EPA,” is how he answered.

He refused to acknowledge that the price of oil is set by a cartel and driven by geopolitical events over which we have no control.

When asked about wind power, he raised spouted, fossil fuel-funded talking points about harms to marine life.

We have moved from the time of climate lies to the time of climate consequences.   We see the leading edge of economic danger in the turmoil in property insurance markets.  You may not like the Budget Committee report on non-renewals; Treasury just did its own report coming to the same conclusions.  The Financial Stability Board just echoed my warnings of a cascading failure from insurance markets, to mortgages and real estate markets, to a general shock to our economic system.

The Economist magazine put this warning on its cover.  Mother Nature doesn’t care about politics. As Pope Francis said, “slap her and she will slap you back.”

There was a time when Republican presidents picked serious, independent people to run the EPA.  George W. Bush chose Christie Whitman.  Ronald Reagan chose William Ruckelshaus.  In this dangerous time, I don’t see Mr. Zeldin having the independence to lead the agency in a manner that will protect us against these looming dangers.  For that reason, I urge a no vote.