Lee Zeldin, the newly appointed head of the Environmental Protection Agency, has refocused the agency's mission from environmental protection to economic priorities. In a public statement, he emphasized lowering costs for consumers and businesses instead of safeguarding public health. This shift marks a departure from the agency’s foundational goals, with plans to dismantle existing pollution regulations and reconsider the value of climate science. Zeldin's approach has garnered criticism for potentially jeopardizing environmental health and disproportionately affecting marginalized communities.
In a two-minute-and-18-second video posted to X, Mr. Zeldin boasted about the changes and said his agency's mission is to lower the cost of buying a car, heating a home and running a business.
Nowhere in the video did he refer to protecting the environment or public health, twin tenets that have guided the agency since its founding in 1970.
The agency said it would work to erase the E.P.A.'s legal authority to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by reconsidering decades of science that show global warming is endangering humanity.
Zeldin's policies effectively shift focus away from environmental protections to prioritizing economic gains for businesses, signaling a stark departure from the agency's traditional mission.
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