It seems like the subsequent EPA head will seemingly be Lee Zeldin, a former New York Congressman and failed gubernatorial candidate, and he’s already promising coverage strikes that will make the air dirtier and improve well being and gasoline prices for Individuals.
The nominee doesn’t have a very in depth environmental background, with out loads of particular advocacy on environmental subjects.
Consequently, varied environmental safety organizations have launched statements mentioning his poor document on environmental laws up to now and expressing concern at his seemingly damaging rollbacks to return. In 2020, whereas he was in Congress, he obtained the worst environmental rating out of the complete New York congressional delegation.
Estimations of the chance of those damaging actions may be knowledgeable by the interval between 2017-2021, which was marked by extreme corruption by two EPA heads with deep ties to the oil & gasoline and coal industries.
The primary of these EPA heads, Scott Pruitt, gained prominence by suing the EPA to cease clear air, and in his tenure ended up being so corrupt that he was pressured to resign – fairly a feat on condition that administration’s over 3,700 conflicts of curiosity.
The second, Andrew Wheeler, was a coal lobbyist who tried to orchestrate a $70 billion bailout for the coal trade and confirmed unbelievable ignorance and lying when discussing the state of his personal company’s rules.
What we do learn about Zeldin’s plans had been introduced this morning, when he famous to the media that he desires to tug again on the EPA rules of the final 4 years.
Whereas we don’t know what particular rules he intends to focus on, it’s seemingly that there could be sweeping and/or scattershot actions to scale back the progress of the final 4 years. Rules carried out by the EPA below President Biden will save Individuals $250B/12 months in well being and vitality prices and save 200k lives in whole.
Rolling again these rules, as Zeldin has mentioned he desires to do, would value Individuals cash within the type of larger well being and gasoline prices, and would trigger extra demise.
The rationale these rollbacks would trigger extra demise and better prices is as a result of they might improve air air pollution, which is a significant driver of demise and illness and a significant drain on financial productiveness. The rollbacks would additionally improve prices as a result of the focused rules are centered on effectivity, and lowering effectivity means larger vitality prices for the nation in whole.
We additionally know that Zeldin has obtained the same sum of money from the oil & gasoline trade as Trump’s first corrupt EPA decide. Zeldin has obtained $269,608 in lifetime political bribes from the Oil & Gasoline trade – not his largest chunk of donations when sorted by trade, however nonetheless vital. That is just like the cost on corrupt oil & gasoline stooge Scott Pruitt, who earned round $300k in bribes from oil & gasoline for his work to advance soiled air previous to his appointment as chief saboteur of the EPA.
In trade for these comparatively low pricetags, the richest and most damaging trade within the historical past of the world – which receives over $700 billion in subsidies yearly within the US alone – obtained vital boosts from damaging actions on the company that’s tasked with conserving the air you breathe clear.
Alongside his statements at the moment, Zeldin additionally mentioned that may make these rollbacks “whereas defending entry to wash air and water,” nevertheless it stays to be seen how that’s doable. On condition that the precise coverage actions he has already recommended are extremely damaging to wash air, this explicit quote rings as if it might be unfaithful. He additionally mentioned one thing about synthetic intelligence, which it’s unclear what the EPA has something to do with (until he was referring to doing one thing concerning the huge pointless vitality use from the sector, however that appears unlikely).
Zeldin mentioned that he desires to make sure US “vitality dominance,” which is unlikely to occur with any technique that focuses away from the applied sciences of the longer term. The EPA’s actions of the final 4 years, and President Biden’s actions as a complete, have all coalesced round a method of bringing EV and battery manufacturing to the US in order that the US may be prepared to offer the merchandise of the longer term.
Mr. Trump, in distinction, is already searching for to roll again the insurance policies which have efficiently led to a whole bunch of billions in funding and a whole bunch of hundreds of jobs in inexperienced trade, regardless of him being blind to what these insurance policies are within the first place.
Whereas in Congress, Zeldin voted in opposition to the Inflation Discount Act, the invoice that introduced these jobs and billions in funding to the US. However in yet one more piece of Orwellian doublespeak, Zeldin mentioned at the moment that he desires to “carry again American jobs to the auto trade,” regardless of it being clear that he and Mr. Trump each need to roll again insurance policies which have introduced again American jobs to the auto trade.
All that mentioned, Zeldin additionally was a member of a bipartisan “local weather options caucus” in 2016, and voted in opposition to a republican modification to slash EPA funding in 2020. So it’s not all unhealthy, it’s simply 86% unhealthy.
And there may be yet one more silver lining right here. Earlier this 12 months, the “Supreme” Court docket stupidly opined that authorities businesses must be restrained of their means to do their jobs when it eradicated one thing referred to as the Chevron doctrine.
You may learn extra about that right here, however in brief, the opinion would make it more durable for EPA to alter rules going ahead. So Zeldin might need his work lower out for him, as he’ll seemingly need to battle in opposition to the scientists at his personal company and the courts to implement the dirty-air insurance policies that he has already indicated he desires to implement.
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