Then-Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) arranged the event after Long Island officials and local environmental activists complained that the only federal hearing on the 2018 presidential executive order to allow that oil exploration and drilling had been held in Albany. Legal challenges eventually blocked the drilling.

Like the EPA administrators from Trump's first term—former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler and "fossil fuel puppet" Scott Pruitt —Zeldin is expected to pursue the Republican's plan to "drill, baby, drill," despite the devastating consequences for the global climate.

With a Republican majority in Congress and Zeldin promising to “deregulate” the EPA, the new Trump administration will prioritize fossil fuel interests over environmental protection.

President-elect Donald Trump has selected former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to serve as his administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and Zeldin announced that he has accepted the role.

What to expect from Donald Trump’s EPA pick: deregulation justified as boosts for the economy and platitudes about the importance of clean air and water.

Despite his past pro-environment votes—especially to protect Long Island’s coast—the former New York congressman is expected to be on board with Trump’s climate policy rollbacks.

Zeldin is a Trump loyalist, and Trump has already promised to gut any regulations that the oil industry doesn't like.

Donald Trump picked Lee Zeldin, a Jewish Republican and former congressman from New York, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. Trump announced Zeldin’s appointment on Monday in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, saying Zeldin “has been a true fighter for America First policies.”

Inside Climate News reporter Marianne Lavelle writes that New York Representative Lee Zeldin brings a moderate face to a radical game plan.