Silent Spring, Silenced Future: Lee Zeldin’s War on the EPA
Photo credit: Gage Skidmore
During 2025, selected writers for the Davis Political Review will contribute to a special series under the unified theme Grave New World. This collection will examine key figures in the second Trump administration’s cabinet and explore their potential impact.
He was a member of the Climate Solutions Caucus and Conservative Climate Caucus. He once said in a committee hearing that “[climate change] is a very important issue.” He voted to protect the EPA budget and against a Republican move to limit its power and jurisdiction. He supported alternative energy sources, including solar and wind. Now, he is the head of the Environmental Protection Agency in the second Trump administration, which may confuse some readers. How is it that this moderate, problem-solving-oriented, climate-believer is the head of an agency where he could further those interests he championed in Congress in a Trump administration whose stance toward energy is “Drill, Baby Drill!”? Just like President Trump himself, Lee Zeldin has drastically changed his political positions on climate change, energy, and the very agency he was picked to run. Dear reader, please be prepared to suspend your disbelief as we welcome the Grave New World of Trump 2.0.
Lee Zeldin is a former Army captain, Representative from New York, and gubernatorial candidate who got dangerously close to winning the New York race in 2022. In that 2022 race, he shifted to the right on all issues, including climate change. He criticized Governor Kathy Hochul, calling for a rollback of New York’s ambitious climate agenda. Ever since, he has become a rising star in MAGA-world. Once Trump was elected, his selection as head of the EPA shocked some and gave some pro-climate news outlets a glimmer of hope. However, Zeldin’s actions since confirmation have shown that he is no friend of the environment. Instead, this once-moderate Republican, hailed by some as the “next Trump”, has taken actions to destroy the very core of the agency.
The EPA was founded in 1970 by President Richard Nixon in response to heightened public concern over the environment. According to the EPA, “In an era of bitter ideological disputes, public opinion was virtually unanimous on the need for the [sic] national environmental policy.” Yet today, the party that originally established the agency has largely turned against it, with just 32 percent of Republicans holding a favorable view of it. However, the Zeldin pick seemed perplexing at first. Why pick a man that held these pro-environmental positions to lead the agency you are hell-bent on destroying? It should have also been no surprise, however, to anyone with knowledge of the MAGA movement that Zeldin would fall into the long line of politicians that change positions to stay in favor with the self-proclaimed king.
According to the first head of the EPA, William Ruckelshaus, the EPA has “no obligation to promote agriculture or commerce; only the critical obligation to protect and enhance the environment,” However, as administrator, Zeldin has turned this mission on its head. In a statement in April, Zeldin articulated the new mission statement of the agency. He stated that “The EPA will continue to ensure clean air, land, and water for every American, while simultaneously driving economic growth by unleashing energy dominance, pursuing permitting reform, making the U.S. the AI Capital of the world, and bringing back American auto jobs.” Yet, looking at any actions of the EPA in the first one hundred days of the Trump administration, the antecedent has largely been ignored.
In an interview in 2019, Steve Bannon — Trump ally and advisor — laid out the tactic we have seen in the second administration. In his words, “All we have to do is flood the zone. Every day we hit them with three things. They’ll bite on one, and we’ll get all of our stuff done … we’ve got to start with muzzle velocity.” This strategy of muzzle velocity and flooding the zone is a perfect way to describe the actions Zeldin has taken as the head of the EPA. It is difficult to keep up with all the details of what has happened, and it is entirely possible some things have gone completely under the radar. Beyond the pure quantity of actions, the quality, too, is difficult to understand. Some of these actions are difficult to even comprehend the possibility of. In the words of New York Times commentator Ezra Klein on the second Trump administration, “It is hard to even think coherently.”
$20 billion of climate grants were cancelled under the guise that it was wasteful spending and corrupt, allegations that were proven to be false. Every environmental justice office through the EPA was shut down. The EPA rolled back regulations on the coal industry promulgated by the Biden industry to slowly shift away from coal-powered energy. It rolled back regulations on tailpipe emissions that would have resulted in most new cars sold in America being electric, starting in 2032. It limited regulations on mercury emissions, a deadly chemical linked to diseases and developmental disorders. It attacked pro-climate groups as biased. And most significantly, it announced it will reconsider the key “endangerment finding” that has served as a key aspect to regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions.
This move, described as the “largest deregulatory announcement in history,” would certainly face litigation, but its impacts could be felt both now and in future administrations. This move would dismantle the “scientific justification for climate change” because the finding is the legal determination that greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide, endanger public health and welfare. If this is rejected, the EPA could revoke almost every greenhouse gas emission regulation and make it very difficult to overturn such a decision by future administrations. Thus, while Zeldin has taken steps to dismantle individual regulations, if the endangerment finding is reversed, it could limit almost every major clean air regulation in the United States.
The sheer volume and reckless pace of actions taken by the EPA under Zeldin — the so-called “muzzle velocity” and strategy of “flooding the zone” — have made it difficult to follow, comprehend, or respond coherently. But I must urge you: keep up. In a letter, Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “Wherever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government.” The second Trump administration is actively working to destroy the conditions that make that statement true. When citizens are uninformed, apathetic, or overwhelmed, he is free to act without accountability. The EPA under Lee Zeldin is no different. Decades of environmental protections have been dismantled under the guise of government efficiency, when in reality it is to please the base and provide kickbacks to their rich friends. Lee Zeldin began as a moderate, seemingly principled Republican. But, like many others, it appears he has completely abandoned his values to serve Trump and further his own political ambitions.
In an era of a 24-hour news cycle and a power-hungry Zeldin, expect more wild headlines that seem unthinkable. These actions will likely undo 50 years of progress of environmental protection and lead to devastating consequences for ecosystems and regular people alike. In Silent Spring, Rachel Carson wrote that “In nature, nothing exists alone.” That truth extends beyond the environment; it applies to democracy, too. The unraveling of environmental protections is not occurring in isolation. It is part of a broader erosion of democratic norms, transparency, and accountability, and if we allow this assault on truth, science, and public trust to continue unchecked, we risk losing not just clean air and water, but the very mechanisms that allow us to reclaim them.
So I challenge you: stay informed, speak out, and refuse to let these actions go unnoticed. This is no longer just about civic duty. In the face of authoritarian backsliding, it is about preserving democracy itself — and the future of a livable planet. Do not let them get away with it. Call it out, and fight back.