WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted 56-42 to confirm former Republican Congressman Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, tasked with rolling back climate rules from former President Joe Biden that were aimed at slashing emissions from vehicles, power plants and factories. President Donald Trump picked Zeldin, 44, to lead EPA’s deregulation […]
Politics
US Senate confirms Zeldin as EPA adminstrator
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted 56-42 to confirm former Republican Congressman Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, tasked with rolling back climate rules from former President Joe Biden that were aimed at slashing emissions from vehicles, power plants and factories.
President Donald Trump picked Zeldin, 44, to lead EPA’s deregulation efforts, lifting hurdles on oil and gas drilling and reversing course on the Biden administration’s emissions rules aimed at spurring more electric vehicle use.
Three Democrats voted to back the former New York representative, Arizona Senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, as well as Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman.
Zeldin had sailed through his confirmation hearing this month, with some Democrats asking him to clarify Trump’s and his own views on whether climate change is a threat and greenhouse gas emissions should be regulated.
Among the EPA’s main actions will be to review the so-called “endangerment finding” – an agency determination that greenhouse gas emissions harm human health, which underpins the agency’s ability to regulate the heat-trapping gases emitted by cars and smoke stacks.
(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici and Richard Cowan; Editing by Chris Reese and David Gregorio)