Christopher Schuler, christopher.schuler@sierraclub.org
Washington, DC – Today, Donald Trump announced Lee Zeldin will be his nominee to lead the EPA. Zeldin, who holds a lifetime LCV score of just 14 percent, voted against critical environmental protection and clean energy job investments, including the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which has already created more than 300,000 American jobs. Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked the country-altering bill, spreading misinformation and lies despite it benefitting the country’s clean air and water and rebuilding American manufacturing.
Zeldin’s comment on the news named that he will restore American energy dominance, despite the fact that the country is significantly more clean energy as a result of the IRA (the country is also producing a record level of oil and gas, a fact Donald Trump repeatedly ignores). Zeldin also claimed he will revitalize the US auto industry, despite the fact the industry has also greatly benefited from the IRA and other critical efforts led by the Biden-Harris administration.
In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous released the following statement:
“Naming an unqualified, anti-American worker who opposes efforts to safeguard our clean air and water lays bare Donald Trump’s intentions to, once again, sell our health, our communities, our jobs, and our future out to corporate polluters. Our lives, our livelihoods, and our collective future cannot afford Lee Zeldin – or anyone who seeks to carry out a mission antithetical to the EPA’s mission.
“2024 will assuredly surpass 2023 as the hottest year on record. Across the country, we are experiencing record droughts, heat waves, and deadly storms, wiping out entire communities in a matter of hours. Americans need and deserve someone who will put them first, not millionaires sitting in board rooms seeking to increase the profits of multi billion dollar international corporations.
“We have made too much progress to allow Donald Trump and Lee Zeldin to take us back. We will not give up the clean energy manufacturing jobs rebuilding communities. We will not accept more dangerous air and water. And we will not allow Trump, Zeldin and corporate polluters to steal our future.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.