Trump EPA chief suggests lawmakers, green groups wield ‘hyperbolic’ climate change claims to grift and ‘scare the public’ 

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin told reporters that they should ask the “fascinating question” of why green groups and lawmakers challenging the Trump administration’s deregulatory actions have been moving “as slowly as possible.” 

He later said it could be to drum up fear and encourage donations to their cause.

Zeldin made these remarks Tuesday at the G20 Abundance Ministerial in Houston, a gathering of energy and economic ministers from the Group of 20 major economies, the first such G20 gathering hosted in the U.S. since 2009.

In response to a question from Heartlander News about why the EPA moved to gut all greenhouse gas emissions regulations on power plants at this point – and not sooner – Zeldin noted that eliminating the Endangerment Finding was key to advancing the proposal.

The 2009 Endangerment Finding ruled that the EPA had the authority to regulate greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, under the Clean Air Act. President Donald Trump and Zeldin announced the repeal of the Endangerment Finding in February after a lengthy rulemaking process. 

“As it relates to the timing of the litigation, here’s just a fascinating concept for all of you to wrap your heads around,” Zeldin told reporters on Tuesday night. “There are people who saw our repeal of the Endangerment Finding and our elimination of all greenhouse gas emission standards on light, medium and heavy-duty vehicles, and messaged it that this was ‘the end of times,’ ‘drastic’ and ‘the world is ending.’ They would try to instill fear in their donors as it relates to some of the left-wing groups that would lead that opposition. Members of Congress who would try to instill fear in those who would be donating to their political campaigns.”

Several Democrats, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and green groups, including the Environmental Defense Fund, immediately announced that they intended to sue the Trump administration over the repeal in February. The Sierra Club called the elimination of the Endangerment Finding the “largest attack on climate protection” when announcing its lawsuit.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, and about a dozen other Democratic lawmakers signed onto a letter warning Zeldin about how climate change could worsen extreme weather.

Notably, the science underpinning the Endangerment Finding was contested at the time, and the finding was used to impose draconian rules on the power and auto sectors, according to several insiders and energy policy experts.

“There was so much urgency and hyperbolic criticism about all the death and despair that the decision was going to make. Now, fast forward to today, all of you amazing journalists can ask yourself the question: why is it that the litigants want their Endangerment Finding repeal litigation to go as slowly as possible?” Zeldin said. “And I ask you, what does it mean when they try to go as slowly as possible in their challenge? And if you want to try to assess what the average layman would think – what the reasonable person would think about that strategy – is, well, maybe it’s not the end of times. Maybe it’s just hyperbolic rhetoric to try to raise money and to scare the public,” Zeldin said.

“Now, by the way, I’m all ears,” Zeldin continued to a room of silent reporters. “If anybody wanted to offer up a suggestion to me as the Administrator of the EPA, if you had it figured out, because when we issued our decision, I’m sure all of you saw all that criticism. Some of you might have written stories that included quotes about how this was going to be the end of times, and they rushed to the court to file their litigation. Now, one would think, if it’s that urgent and big of a concern, wouldn’t they want to get it overturned as quickly as they can? And why are they not doing that? Why is their strategy to draw it out as long as possible? And I’ll tell you, as administrator of the EPA, that it is our desire to be able to have that day in court on all the decisions that we make as quickly as possible.”

When asked by Heartlander News about the EPA’s plan for anticipated litigation likely to come in response to Monday’s announcements, Zeldin said that every significant decision he makes invites a lawsuit from “someone on the opposite side.” He said the EPA has “no plans at this point” to supplement its legal team with outside counsel but wouldn’t rule out the possibility “for the future.”

(Image credit: Screenshot/X/epaleezeldin)