WHAT THEY ARE SAYING: Praise All Around for EPA’s Greatest and Most Consequential Day of Deregulation in U.S. History
WASHINGTON – One week after the greatest and most consequential day of deregulation in U.S. history, praise for the 31 historic actions U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is undertaking under President Trump and Administrator Lee Zeldin keeps pouring in. Combined, these announcements represent the most momentous day in the history of the EPA. While accomplishing EPA’s core mission of protecting the environment, the agency is committed to fulfilling President Trump’s promise to unleash American energy, lower cost of living for Americans, revitalize the American auto industry, restore the rule of law, and give power back to states to make their own decisions.
Here’s what people are still saying:
Senator Jim Risch (R-ID): “Thank you President Trump and Administrator Zeldin for taking 31 actions to undo the disastrous Green New Deal and usher in the Golden Age of American prosperity. Promises made. Promises kept.”
Representative Pete Stauber (R-MN-08): “President Biden enacted a number of harmful regulations that made it more expensive to purchase a car, heat our homes, operate a business, and manufacture right here in the United States. I am pleased to see this administration take historic action to roll back these burdensome regulations that raised the cost of living for every American family. Promises made, promises kept.”
West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey: “Thank you Administrator Zeldin—my team and I in the West Virginia Attorney General’s office stand with you!”
AdvaMed President and CEO Scott Whitaker: “We look forward to working with the EPA on its review of the NESHAP rule related to medical device sterilization. The medtech industry sterilizes 20 billion medical technologies annually in the U.S. and it is important that these regulations continue to be rooted firmly in the latest science. We are committed to ensuring the sterilization process remains safe for facility employees and communities.”
Always on Energy Research Vice President Isaac Orr and Director of Research Mitch Rolling: “Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency announced it would roll back the Biden administration’s greenhouse gas emissions standards on power plants. That’s great news for consumers, who will suffer from widespread blackouts and billions of dollars in costs if the rules are not repealed... Under President Donald Trump, the EPA is wisely poised to reprioritize grid reliability while continuing to protect the environment.”
Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist: “Administrator Zeldin’s bold deregulatory action at EPA will unleash American energy and reduce costs for American families. The Obama administration’s faulty Endangerment Finding has been used as justification for years to stifle the production and use of energy in America. Thanks to President Trump and Administrator Zeldin, the government’s expensive web of overregulation is being unwoven.”
America’s Power President and CEO Michelle Bloodworth: “Electricity consumers – homes, businesses, factories, and data centers – should be grateful for Administrator Zeldin’s leadership in reconsidering regulations that are forcing coal-fired power plants to close prematurely, undermining the reliability of America’s electricity supply, and increasing electricity prices. Today’s announcement recognizes the need for dependable and affordable sources of electricity at a time when the demand for electricity is increasing rapidly and the U.S. faces stiff competition from other countries. President Biden’s Clean Power Plan is one of several rules that EPA will be reconsidering. EPA designed the rule to force the closure of coal-fired power plants and ignored the objections of energy providers and state utility commissioners who expressed serious concerns about the reliability impacts of the rule. Other EPA rules that are being reconsidered would add unnecessary costs to the $70 billion that has already been invested over the last two decades to install advanced environmental controls on the coal fleet. These unnecessary costs would be passed on to electricity consumers. President Trump has also provided very strong leadership by declaring a national energy emergency. One of the reasons for this emergency is the premature retirement of coal-fired power plants. One-third of the nation’s coal fleet is expected to retire over the next five years unless decisive steps are taken to prevent these retirements. Most of these coal retirements will occur in regions of the country that face the risk of electricity shortages. Reconsideration of EPA rules is an important step, and we look forward to working with the Administration as it takes other steps to prevent coal retirements and protect electricity consumers.”
David Blackmon: “EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, acting on authorization from President Donald Trump on Wednesday, rolled out bombshell plans Wednesday for what would become the largest revamp of federal climate and energy regulations in U.S. history. Armed with Trump’s Day 1 executive order to conduct a review of ‘the legality and continuing applicability’ of the Obama EPA’s 2009 endangerment finding related to greenhouse gases, Zeldin announced what he called ‘31 historic actions’ which would, if successful, completely revamp the agency’s approach to imposing its will under the Clean Air Act.”
Bull Moose Project: “When historians write about how America was made great again, they’ll list Administrator Zeldin’s accomplishments as KEY. It’s time to power America.”
Committee to Unleash Prosperity: “Our new hero, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, announced that his agency is reviewing with the intent of reversing 31 of the costliest regulations it has ever imposed. This includes electric vehicle mandates, the greenhouse gas endangerment finding, the Clean Power Plan, and the social cost of carbon.”
Harps Food Stores Chairman and CEO Kim Eskew: “I would also like to express my thanks that the EPA will be reconsidering the Technology Transitions Rule. Harvard and Floy Harp founded Harps in 1930. They started the first store with $500 in cash that Harvard had saved while working in the citrus industry in California. The first store was Harps Cash Grocery, located in Springdale, AR. Over the next 71 years, the business continued to grow. In 2001, the company did a leveraged buy-out with the Employee Stock Ownership Plan, purchasing outstanding stock from the family and management. Harps is now the 16th largest employee-owned company in the United States. Our approximately 7,000 associates serve our customers at 148 locations across six states. However, costly and overburdensome government regulations threaten the future of our business and thousands like it across the country.”
Independent Women’s Forum Center for Energy and Conservation Director Gabriella Hoffman: “Last week, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced over 30 deregulatory actions to move his agency away from costly, ineffective net-zero climate policies. Billed as the largest deregulatory effort undertaken at the EPA, Administrator Zeldin announced 31 actions to prioritize human health and the environment over climate alarmism.”
Institute for Energy Research: “Lee Zeldin, President Trump’s Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), announced the biggest deregulation in U.S. history to rescind the onerous regulations from the Obama and Biden administrations. The agency is reviewing regulations with the intent of reversing 31 of the costliest regulations the agency has previously imposed, including backdoor electric vehicle (EV) mandates, the greenhouse gas endangerment finding, the Clean Power Plan, the social cost of carbon, and the mercury and air toxicity standards. These moves help fulfill President Trump’s promise to unleash American energy, revitalize the U.S. auto industry, restore the rule of law and give power back to the States... EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is taking a hatchet to Obama and Biden’s regulatory agenda, looking to revise or rescind 31 onerous regulations that add costs to Americans for goods and energy... These limitations not only took away options for Americans but could have been disastrous for the sustainability of the U.S. power grid as base load plants were attacked in favor of intermittent solar and wind plants... Still, the direction from the EPA Administrator’s actions is clear: significant deregulation that will make it easier to build and make things in America is coming.”
Iron Mining Association of Minnesota: “[W]e appreciate the agency taking an in-depth look at some rules, including Taconite Mercury Air Emissions. Mercury levels vary significantly across our iron formation. While that information was provided to regulators, it was not taken into consideration when setting a limit. The reconsideration doesn’t mean the standards go away. They may stay the same or be adjusted. We respect our environment and the standards that are in place to protect the place we live and work.”
National Review Editors: “This reconsideration is part of a wider deregulatory drive announced by Zeldin, which is designed to ‘unleash American energy,’ lower the cost of living, and return more power to the states to decide certain environmental matters. Needless to say, this reflects the priorities of an administration that focuses far more on the cost of regulation than did its predecessor, a change much for the better. The intent is to roll back ‘trillions’ in regulatory costs and hidden ‘taxes’ so that cars, for example, should be more affordable, as would running a business or starting up new manufacturing... The status quo is a policy disaster. We’ve festooned ourselves with ruinously expensive regulations and harmed our energy producers. The rules have benefited America’s geopolitical rivals by reducing the degree to which this country can take advantage of its abundant natural resources. Adding insult to injury, the regulations will have no material effect on the climate.”
National Review Senior Writer Noah Rothman: “Zeldin’s maneuver helps restore a measure of sanity to U.S. policymaking that Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Stephen Breyer, Anthony Kennedy, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg found unconvincing. In 2007, the liberal majority on that Court rejected the notion that the United States should not aggressively regulate greenhouse gas emissions because other nations were more aggressive contributors to this global problem, and hamstringing ourselves would do little to address the issue. In addition, the justices determined that the Clean Air Act was designed to be as ‘capacious’ as possible so it would cover whatever environmental cause célèbre came down the pike. It was a classic attempt to impose not just public policy but ideology on the country from the Supreme Court bench. The endangerment finding was just one misbegotten progeny of this decision, and Zeldin is amply justified in chipping away at its legacy.”
Texas Public Policy Foundation: “The Trump administration’s actions represent a return to proper constitutional limits on federal power. After years of environmental regulations being misused to promote an anti-fossil fuel ideology and illegally shift power from the states to the federal government, this administration is finally returning the EPA to its statutory role. Life: Powered applauds President Trump, Administrator Zeldin, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum for their commitment to regulatory sanity. These actions will help restore the ‘cooperative federalism’ that made American environmental regulation successful in the first place - focusing on technology-driven solutions rather than ideological mandates. As our energy sector regains its freedom to innovate and grow, Americans will benefit from more affordable, reliable energy and continued environmental progress.”
University of Houston Endowed Professor of Space Architecture Larry Bell: “These EPA regulatory rollbacks will end trillions of inflationary expenses and hidden ‘taxes’ for American citizens, households and businesses, reducing costs of home heating, gasoline, car purchases, and countless other expenses. EPA regulatory reforms under consideration will benefit industry and job growth as well."
U.S. Steel Spokesperson Andrew Fulton: “We welcome the historic EPA actions by Administrator Zeldin and President Trump. From our Minnesota iron mines to our Pennsylvania and Indiana steel mills, this commonsense approach protects the environment and will help keep steel like ours mined, melted and made in the USA.”
WSJ Editorial Board: “Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin on Wednesday proposed a host of important rule changes. The most important may be his move to reconsider the 2009 so-called endangerment finding that declares greenhouse gases are a pollutant subject to agency regulation. Cue the panic and misinformation campaign... But withdrawing the finding wouldn’t change the Court’s fundamental holding that 'it is primarily the office of Congress, not the federal courts, to prescribe national policy in areas of special federal interest' like climate. This is all the more reason why the Obama-Biden EPA power grab endangers the constitutional separation of powers by usurping Congress’s authority. President Trump isn’t shrinking from legal fights, and scrapping EPA’s endangerment finding is one well worth having.”