EPA chief moves to dismantle climate protections

Under Lee Zeldin, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is working to reverse decades of environmental protections, with a focus on erasing climate regulations.

Elizabeth Kolbert reports for The New Yorker.

In short:

EPA administrator Lee Zeldin has proposed deep budget cuts and plans to eliminate the agency’s scientific research arm, shifting its mission toward reducing costs for consumers and businesses.
Zeldin aims to revoke Biden-era rules on power plant and vehicle emissions, and to reconsider the EPA’s 2009 endangerment finding that classified greenhouse gases as a public health threat.
The administration is expanding fossil fuel development and stalling clean energy projects, including halting offshore wind leases and promoting coal use.

Key quote:

“There is no possible world in which greenhouse gases are not a threat to public health.”

— Kim Cobb, climate scientist at Brown University

Why this matters:

The Environmental Protection Agency, founded in 1970 amid growing public concern about pollution, was built on a simple premise: that Americans have a right to clean air, safe water, and a healthy environment. But recent moves to curb the agency’s authority have sparked alarm among scientists, doctors, and environmental advocates. The rollback of climate rules comes at a time when data shows that heat waves are becoming more deadly, wildfire smoke is traveling farther, and storm systems are intensifying. The EPA’s original mission was to prevent exactly this kind of future.

With climate change accelerating, any shift away from science-driven policy threatens to leave communities more vulnerable to pollution and extreme weather. Public health experts point out that clean air standards directly affect rates of asthma, heart disease, and even cognitive decline. As the EPA turns its attention elsewhere, there’s growing concern that the long-term health and safety of Americans could be at stake.

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