Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Lee Zeldin’s Stairway to (Deregulatory) Heaven

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Nov 12, 2024 View in browser
 
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By Jean Chemnick

Former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), President-elect Donald Trump's pick for EPA administrator, speaks at a Trump campaign rally at Ed Fry Arena in Indiana, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 23, 2024.

Former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), President-elect Donald Trump's pick for EPA administrator, speaks at a Trump campaign rally at Ed Fry Arena in Indiana, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 23. | Rebecca Droke/AP

President-elect Donald Trump blindsided the climate world Monday by choosing a personal ally with a mixed conservation record and little regulatory experience to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.

Lee Zeldin, a former Republican representative from Long Island, will captain Trump’s second-term deregulatory agenda if confirmed by the Senate. Zeldin’s main credentials seem to be his loyalty to Trump: He supported the former president through both his first impeachment trial and his post-2020-election bid to remain in power.

At the same time, his past acknowledgments that climate change is real and support for crackdowns on some toxic chemicals don’t entirely match Trump’s campaign rhetoric — even if Zeldin cast a lot of votes against climate and clean air and water legislation.

Industry advocates and conservatives applauded the choice, saying Zeldin would carry out Trump’s plans to reshape the agency. Myron Ebell, who led Trump’s 2020 EPA transition team, said Zeldin “has the complete confidence of the President.”

“He also will be a great advocate in public for what they’re trying to do,” he said.

Zeldin will quarterback efforts to roll back President Joe Biden’s marquee climate rules for power, petroleum, cars and trucks. Trump said in a Monday statement that his ally would “ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses.”

Zeldin pledged on X to use his EPA perch to “restore U.S. energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the U.S. the global leader of AI.”

The former representative is already getting a warm reception among Capitol Hill Republicans, Timothy Cama and Garrett Downs report today. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), the likely Senate Environment and Public Works Committee chair, called Zeldin a “strong choice” to help roll back “regulatory overreach.”

Mixed messages?
The announcement surprised many who work closely with EPA and expected Trump to renominate Andrew Wheeler — his second EPA administrator and a veteran coal industry lawyer. Wheeler signaled an interest in returning to EPA earlier this year to lead the work of undoing Biden’s regulatory legacy.

As Scott Waldman and I write today, Zeldin’s slim record on regulations is a sharp contrast to Wheeler’s — and even to that of Scott Pruitt, Trump’s first EPA administrator and a former Oklahoma attorney general who had spent years suing the agency before leading it.

Zeldin’s record on climate and the environment is also mixed. The former representative, who served in the House between 2015 and 2023, holds a League of Conservation Voters lifetime score of only 14 percent. He targeted New York’s tough climate laws two years ago when he ran against Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.

But he was also a member of two climate-themed House caucuses — not an unusual resume item for Republicans from blue-leaning regions. During that time, Zeldin worked with New York’s LCV to fight offshore drilling, as Kevin Bogardus writes today.

The former lawmaker also took an active interest in the health of the Long Island Sound and in empowering EPA to ban harmful “forever chemicals.” And he bucked his party in supporting the Department of Defense’s authority to plan for climate change.

His sparse environmental record still worries Democrats who say he’s a 2020 election denier who will bow to the interests of polluting industries.

“It's a signal that the attack on the regulatory state is going to move forward in a big way at EPA, and things like clean air and clean water and public health are going to be secondary if even considered at all,” said Rep. Jared Huffman of California, a top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee.

 

It's Tuesday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Jean Chemnick. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to askibell@eenews.net.

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Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: Benjamin Storrow and Kelsey Tamborrino discuss the future of solar power in the United States and a decision by China's largest solar panel manufacturer to sell its new Texas factory.

Power Centers

President Joe Biden speaks about the economy at Arcosa Wind Towers factory in Belen, New Mexico;

President Joe Biden speaks about the economy at the Arcosa Wind Towers factory in Belen, New Mexico, on Aug. 9, 2023. | Ross D. Franklin/AP

How much money is safe?
Some of the Democrats' unspent climate funding faces the chopping block after Trump takes office in January. The big mystery is how much money remains on the table.

Federal agencies and departments have announced tentative awards for roughly two-thirds of the $145.4 billion appropriated to climate efforts by the Inflation Reduction Act, according to the White House. The Biden administration has provided no accounting of how much of that money it has formally committed, or obligated, Jessie Blaeser and Kelsey Tamborrino report.

EPA as of late last month obligated $33.5 billion, or 80 percent of its $42.1 billion in IRA appropriations. But few other agencies contacted by POLITICO provided full breakdowns of their spending and obligations. Those numbers will be crucial for the coming GOP debate over how much of the law to repeal.

Trump's 'energy czar'
Trump is considering appointing a White House "energy czar" to coordinate energy policies across the administration, according to two people with knowledge of the transition.

The role could be one of several policy “czars” in the White House under Trump, who has stressed that slashing regulations and boosting fossil fuel production are among his top priorities. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a Trump loyalist who was on the president-elect’s shortlist for vice president, is viewed as a possible energy czar, Robin Bravender reports.

Battery boom or bust?
The incoming president is expected to speed up permits to mine for critical minerals needed for advanced batteries and other technology. One analyst predicted a Trump battery boom.

Still, the election raises questions about the future of the multibillion-dollar supply sector for electric vehicles and energy storage as it transitions from Biden’s whole-of-government support toward Trump’s disdain for regulations and federal spending on clean energy, Hannah Northey, Mike Lee and David Ferris report.

The U.S. has invested $200 billion in the effort, but much of the industry is in its earliest stages and reliant on government support, said Nick Nigro, founder of the EV analytical firm Atlas Public Policy.

COP Corner

Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods is pictured.

Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with energy sector business leaders in the Cabinet Room of the White House on April 3, 2020. | Evan Vucci/AP

Our news roundup from COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan

The Exxon chief's warning to the GOP : Exxon Mobil Chair and CEO Darren Woods urged the incoming Trump administration to avoid making turbulent climate policy swings — and he pushed the president-elect to reject carbon border taxes favored by some GOP lawmakers.

U.S. abandons push for sharper greenhouse gas cuts: The U.S. delegation had planned to join others countries to push for faster global action to slash greenhouse gas pollution.

Starmer faces Trump's world: U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is sending a signal that despite efforts by right-leaning leaders in the U.S. and Europe to undercut climate action, his new government intends to lead in the global fight against climate change. A Trump-led U.S. government could spoil that optimism.

Azerbaijan president lauds fossil fuels : President Ilham Aliyev used his opening address to gripe at hypocritical Western governments who buy his gas and lecture him about torching the planet.

Orbán puts his weight behind oil and gas: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said countries shouldn't sacrifice their economy in the process of going green, even if it means burning more oil and gas.

In Other News

Bare fields: New York farmers are grappling with how to grow food this year amid the Northeast’s record-breaking drought and unexpected brush fires.

Wind down under: The world’s largest planned renewable energy project would be bigger than entire countries, with giant wind turbines spread across thousands of miles in Western Australia.

 

The lame duck session could reshape major policies before year's end. Get Inside Congress delivered daily to follow the final sprint of dealmaking on defense funding, AI regulation and disaster aid. Subscribe now.

 
 
Subscriber Zone

A showcase of some of our best subscriber content.

Donald Trump (right) and Kristi Noem (left)

President-elect Donald Trump reacts with South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem after dancing at a campaign town hall on Oct. 14 in Oaks, Pennsylvania. | Alex Brandon/AP

Trump has chosen South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to lead the Department of Homeland Security, where she’ll have broad jurisdiction over federal disaster response and immigration enforcement.

The California-led effort to organize Western states under a single renewable-heavy electricity market is picking up steam with the commitment of New Mexico’s largest utility.

State regulators and the gas industry announced new efforts to head off the breakdown of gas deliveries to power plants and households during extreme storms.

That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.

 

Policy change is coming—be the pro who saw it first. Access POLITICO Pro’s Issue Analysis series on what the transition means for agriculture, defense, health care, tech, and more. Strengthen your strategy.

 
 
 

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