Power and climate-focused teams have blended emotions in regards to the new appointees chosen to steer the cost on environmental points over the following 4 years.
President-elect Donald Trump tapped fracking CEO Chris Wright to go the Division of Power, whereas former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin was nominated to run the Environmental Safety Company (EPA).
Each candidates are teed as much as align themselves with Trump’s place on reaching U.S. power independence and in the reduction of on the Biden administration’s environmental insurance policies, resembling emissions requirements. When interviewed by Fox Information Digital, leaders of environmental teams mentioned that neither impressed a lot hope that Trump would critically tackle their issues in regards to the future.
Zeldin beforehand supported environmental causes throughout his time in Congress, resembling cleansing up Lengthy Island Sound, which was applauded by environmental teams after he was nominated for the highest administration place.
“Lee Zeldin is deeply familiar with the environmental issues we face in the Long Island Sound region and has championed the Sound’s health as co-chair of the Long Island Sound Caucus,” Save the Sound, a gaggle targeted on stopping water air pollution, and restoring wildlife habitats, mentioned in a press release. “We appreciate Representative Zeldin’s prior support of the funding that is critical for the restoration of Long Island Sound, his role in passing the Long Island Sound Restoration and Stewardship Act, and his support for the permanent preservation of Plum Island.”
The New York League of Conservation Voters (NYLCV) additionally highlighted their work with Zeldin through the years on environmental points.
TRUMP TAPS FORMER NEW YORK REP LEE ZELDIN TO LEAD EPA
“While we did not always see eye to eye with Rep. Zeldin, we did work to find common ground on several issues during his time in office, including on Plum Island, the Great American Outdoors Act, fighting offshore drilling on the East Coast, EPA actions on PFAS, and restoring funding for Long Island Sound,” NYLCV mentioned in a press release after Zeldin was nominated.
“The former congressman has called himself a champion for conservation within the Republican Party. He has also said he is committed to public health and that he supports energy independence. He opposed cuts to the EPA from both Democratic and Republican presidents because, he said, they would hurt the people he was in office to serve,” NYLCV continued. “For the health and wellness of the American people and given the urgency of the climate crisis, we hope his EPA will reflect these values.”
Nevertheless, the Union of Involved Scientists, a nonprofit of 250 scientists whose analysis is geared in direction of a mission to “combat climate change,” claimed that Zeldin doesn’t have the expertise for the position.
“If confirmed, Lee Zeldin would come to the crucial position of EPA administrator lacking relevant experience and has already signaled that he would put corporations over people,” Rachel Cleetus, the coverage director for the Union of Involved Scientists, mentioned in a press release. “The EPA’s mission is to protect public health and the environment, and he must make decisions based on the best available science, not pressure from oil and gas companies seeking to expand their profits. His focus should be on cutting harmful pollution—including heat-trapping emissions—to safeguard people, the economy and ecosystems.”
Earthjustice, the San Francisco-based nonprofit that dates again to 1971, expressed skepticism that Zeldin may eliminate most of the present environmental insurance policies of the Biden administration.
“We need a steady, experienced hand at EPA to marshal federal resources to fight climate change and utilize the full power of the law to protect communities from toxic pollution. Lee Zeldin is not that person,” Earthjustice President Abigail Dillen mentioned, in keeping with Roll Name. “His loyalty to Donald Trump indicates he will gladly take a sledgehammer to EPA’s most recent lifesaving regulations, putting politics over science and endangering our communities.”
Environmental teams have been broadly essential of pro-fracking candidate Wright, the CEO and founding father of Liberty Power, to go the Division of Power in Trump’s second time period.
Jeff Deyette, deputy director of the local weather and power program on the Union of Involved Scientists, mentioned that “the nomination of Chris Wright makes crystal clear the fossil fuel industry’s out-sized and undue influence on shaping and implementing the Trump administration’s agenda.”
“DOE must prioritize confronting the reality of the climate crisis, maintaining focus on the technological and policy innovation required to enable a rapid phase out of dirty fossil fuels and transition to clean and reliable renewable energy,” Deyette added.
Wright, who described himself as a “lifelong environmentalist,” has mentioned that he believes local weather change is a matter, however not a disaster, and accused the motion of utilizing “deceptive marketing terms.”
“Climate change is a real problem, and I’ve been speaking on it for 20 years,” Wright mentioned whereas talking on the 2023 American Conservation Coalition Summit in Salt Lake Metropolis. “We can make progress on that. But we can’t make progress towards solving a climate challenge if we’re keeping people in poverty and not letting them rise up.”
The Sierra Membership, an environmental group that “works to promote clean energy,” slammed his views on local weather change.
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“Not since Donald Trump’s most recent cabinet pick has a nominee ever been so utterly unqualified for the job,” Sierra Membership Govt Director Ben Jealous mentioned of Chris Wright. “Clean air and clean water are not a priority for these people, and their reckless ideas and policies will only further harm the American people. Chris Wright is not merely unqualified, he’s a direct threat to our future and the planet’s.”
Wright is more likely to push again on the Biden administration’s goal to succeed in net-zero emissions by 2050.