Lee Zeldin, Trump’s EPA nominee, pledges independence from industry ties in senate hearing
By Douglas Main
Incoming President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) appeared on track for confirmation after a Senate hearing Thursday in which he pledged independence from industry money and influence.
Senators with the Committee on Environment and Public Works quizzed nominee Lee Zeldin, a former Congressman from eastern Long Island, on a wide range of issues, including his associations with, and financial ties to, the fossil fuel industry, his stance on government inducements for electric vehicle expansion, and environmental justice issues.
In one line of questioning, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, pressed Zeldin on how he would “separate” his work at EPA from the demands of the fossil fuel industry, in particular.
Zeldin has numerous ties to what Whitehouse described as a “climate denial front group,” and has been the recipient of what Whitehouse said was nearly $300,000 from the oil and gas industry back to 2007, and “large campaign support” from the wealthy Koch family, which runs a variety of businesses involved in oil and gas exploration, pipelines, refining, and chemical production, among others.
Zeldin said the connections would have no role in how he leads the EPA.
“There is no dollar, large or small, that can influence the decisions that I make, who has access to me and how I am ruling in my obligations under the law,” he responded.
“Well good luck standing up to these guys cause they’re going to come at you,” Whitehouse said.