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Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin on Thursday pitched the Trump administration’s deregulation effort as a step that will make it easier for Americans to buy a car, heat their homes and operate small businesses.
“It means that it’s going to be easier to purchase a car. It’s going to be easier to heat your home. Operating a small business is going to be easier,” Zeldin told Fox Business Network host Maria Bartiromo, when asked what deregulation would mean for “ordinary Americans.”
“People who are looking for employment are going to have more opportunities,” Zeldin added.
The remarks come a day after the EPA indicated it plans to slash a broad suite of rules and determinations that aim to cut pollution or mitigate climate change — including from cars and power plants.
The EPA said it would consider rolling back Biden-era regulations that are expected to sharply increase the number of electric vehicles sold as well as speed coal plant closures. It is also considering rolling back regulations on the neurotoxin mercury coming from power plants and general air pollution limits for deadly soot.
The agency also said it would reconsider the finding that climate change poses a threat to the public — which lays the regulatory groundwork for further climate action. Additionally, the agency indicated it would close offices dedicated to fighting pollution in underserved and minority communities around the country.
But Zeldin, on Thursday, defended the EPA’s commitment to maintain a clean environment but said that can’t come at such a steep economic cost.
“We want to make sure that Americans have access to clean air, land, and water. That’s the first pillar of powering the great American comeback,” Zeldin said. “But while we are doing that, we need to unleash energy dominance, pursue permitting reform, make America the AI capital of the world, bring back those American auto jobs.”
“The American public spoke loud and clear that they want this economic relief, and at the end of the day, that’s what we’re talking about here,” he said, adding, “We refuse to do our part to suffocate the economy. It is the exact opposite.”
