Sierra Club Statement as Senate Votes to Confirm Lee Zeldin as EPA Administrator

Today, the United States Senate voted to confirm former Congressman Lee Zeldin as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, despite his lack of any real qualifications for the role. In his final year in Congress in 2022, Zeldin earned a paltry 5% on the League of Conservation Voters scorecard, which tracks the voting records of members of congress on critical environmental issues.

Zeldin now takes the helm of the EPA in the wake of Trump’s recent executive orders seeking to freeze all federal spending from the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

In response, Sierra Club Legislative Director Melinda Pierce released the following statement:

“The EPA’s stated mission is to protect human health and the environment. In the wake of Donald Trump’s dangerous executive orders and illegal push to freeze all federal funding, the new EPA Administrator will face a decision of whether to carry out the necessary duties of the role, or fold to Trump’s deadly fossil fuel-backed agenda and broken promises. The American people want to breathe clean air and drink clean water. They want a healthy environment for their families today and the future generations of tomorrow. And they want to know that their government is doing everything in its power to protect them from the destructive impacts of the climate crisis that we sadly witness more and more of each day. That is now Lee Zeldin’s charge, and we will do everything in our power to hold him accountable to the American people.”