President-elect Donald Trump‘s nominee for Environmental Protection Agency administrator signals a commitment to economic growth and levelheaded environmental management, a balance that has long been absent from previous Democratic administrations.
Despite the Left’s outlandish claims to the contrary, Lee Zeldin was a leading conservative voice for environmental stewardship during his time in Congress. A member of the bipartisan Climate Solutions and Conservative Climate Caucuses, he made it clear one of his “top priorities in Congress has been to safeguard our environment.”
He worked across the aisle to limit forever chemicals in drinking water and ensure polluters were held accountable for cleanup under the federal Superfund program. He advanced a bipartisan bill to create incentives for carbon capture and storage. He even led a bipartisan group of his colleagues to protect a critical habitat off the coast of his district.
Zeldin’s environmental record speaks for itself, and it makes him wholly qualified to lead the EPA.
People believe in conserving the beautiful country we have been given, and we reject the notion that doing so must mean economic calamity. Under the Trump administration lies a historic opportunity to reverse the failed environmental dogma advanced by the Left. Opportunities such as permitting reform, which seeks to dismantle the excessive regulatory roadblocks standing in the way of abundant, affordable, and clean energy, are a must for an incoming administration that seeks to beat China and strengthen our energy grid. Cutting red tape may not come naturally for Democratic administrations, but under Zeldin and Trump, the United States will build great things again.
A great place for Zeldin to start is the permitting of Class VI wells, which are used to inject and store captured carbon. To date, the EPA has only permitted four Class VI wells, while the list of applicants has grown to 160. To speed up the process, the EPA can grant primacy to states, which are able to permit these critical infrastructure projects more effectively and efficiently. The permitting process at the state level takes months as opposed to the years it can take at the federal level, meaning we could see more wells get permitted in the first year of the Trump presidency than we did in the entirety of President Joe Biden’s. Decentralizing permitting would serve as a lasting legacy of the Trump administration.
There are only three states — Wyoming, North Dakota, and Louisiana — that enjoy primacy currently. With primacy, North Dakota, led by former Gov. Doug Burgum, soon-to-be secretary of the interior, has become a leader in carbon capture and storage and just approved a route permit for the largest carbon capture project in the world. Zeldin could help to expand the number of states with primacy and, more broadly, increase the efficiency of this arduous permitting process. Not only would this unleash clean energy technology, but it would benefit the economy.
In addition, Zeldin could continue his work to ensure an effective Superfund program, a matter the first Trump administration prioritized. In 2019, Trump said, “From Day One, my administration has made it a top priority to ensure that America has among the very cleanest air and cleanest water on the planet.”
Similarly, toxic forever chemicals continue to pollute U.S. water. With Zeldin’s past efforts in Congress to address this problem, this could be a priority he leads on at the EPA. Other areas could include limiting pesticides that are harmful to human health and the environment or working to replace lead piping. Zeldin’s background and expertise offer several opportunities to bring about a cleaner, healthier U.S.
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The U.S. has some of the strongest environmental standards in the world, and the person who leads the EPA is tasked with ensuring we continue to uphold those standards. We must, and can, find a balance between protecting the environment and ensuring a more prosperous future for our country.
As EPA administrator, Zeldin will restore balance in the U.S.’s approach to environmental protection. Instead of using the heavy hand of government to dampen innovation and undermine the economy, he will implement policies that unleash innovation, empower economic growth, and ensure the cleanest air and water in the world. My organization had the pleasure of working with the EPA in the first Trump administration under former Administrator Andrew Wheeler through a memorandum of understanding, and we look forward to building on that partnership with Zeldin.
Stephen Perkins is the chief operating officer at the American Conservation Coalition. Follow him on X @Stephen_Perkins.