EPA Administrator Defends Repeal of Climate Change Regulations at Controversial Conference

Wed Apr 08 2026 18:07:33 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

Lee Zeldin, head of the EPA, cites victory for climate change skeptics in his keynote at a conservative gathering, prompting backlash from environmental advocates.

During a speech at a conference hosted by the Heartland Institute, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin defended his agency's decision to repeal the 2009 'endangerment finding,' which had been the basis for regulating greenhouse gases. He encouraged attendees, who are skeptical of mainstream climate science, to celebrate this reversal, which he argues represents a break from what he calls decades of 'unthinking adherence' to liberal policies. This move has drawn sharp criticism from environmentalists who accuse the EPA of promoting disinformation and failing to protect public health amidst growing climate challenges.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday defended his decision to repeal the legal determination that serves as the basis for federal rules to slow climate change, telling a gathering of climate change skeptics that they should “celebrate vindication.”

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin made the remarks in the keynote address at a conference hosted by the Heartland Institute, a conservative think tank that rejects mainstream climate science and what it calls 'climate alarmism.' Zeldin told the gathering that repeal of the 2009 “endangerment finding” reversed decades of unthinking adherence to liberal politicians and environmental groups about the dangers of climate change.

“Today is a day to celebrate. It is a day to celebrate vindication,” said Zeldin, a former Republican congressman from New York who is widely believed to be under consideration for a possible promotion to attorney general.

The EPA earlier this year revoked the endangerment finding, a scientific conclusion that for 16 years was the central basis for regulating planet-warming emissions from power plants, vehicles, and other sources. The Trump administration argued the finding hurts industry and the economy and claimed the Obama and Biden administrations twisted science to determine that greenhouse gases are a public health risk.

Zeldin’s prominent appearance at a conference hosted by a group deeply skeptical of the established science around climate change reflected the vast reversal that President Donald Trump’s administration has carried out of traditional policies meant to protect the environment.

Environmentalists denounced Zeldin’s appearance before the conservative group, accusing him of “rallying climate deniers” at a time when climate change is creating greater risks of extreme weather, including stronger hurricanes, more dangerous floods, and more intense wildfires.

Zeldin’s speech “promotes disinformation” and amounts to doing the bidding of Heartland’s secretive donors, said Joe Bonfiglio, an executive with the Environmental Defense Fund. “The Heartland Institute is not a serious scientific organization. It’s a disinformation factory,” Bonfiglio said.

An EPA spokeswoman brushed off the criticism, saying “the era of EPA as a vehicle for radical ideology is over.” Zeldin speaks before a “wide variety of ideologically different groups and individuals to promote the agenda of the Trump EPA,” spokesman Carolyn Holran said.

Heartland Institute President James Taylor hailed Zeldin’s speech and called him “the greatest EPA administrator ever.”

The 2009 endangerment finding determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare. The repeal eliminates all greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and trucks and could unleash a broader undoing of climate regulations on stationary sources such as power plants and oil and gas facilities. Legal challenges have been filed by nearly two dozen states, along with public health and environmental groups.