March 16, 2025

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said it is "not a binary choice" to to either protect the environment or grow the economy.

The post Exclusive: EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin Launches Largest Deregulatory Effort in U.S. History to ‘Save Coal, Bring Down Cost of Living’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin said it is “not a binary choice” to either protect the environment or grow the economy.

“We don’t have to just choose one,” he explained.

Joining Breitbart News Washington bureau chief Matt Boyle on the Breitbart News Saturday radio show, Zeldin went over his recent historic launch of the largest deregulatory effort in U.S. history and talked about the EPA’s sweeping deregulations to “save the coal industry” and “bring down the cost of living.” 

After announcing 31 deregulations on Wednesday, including the termination of the Biden administration’s “Environmental Justice and DEI arms of the agency (EJ/DEI),” Zeldin told Boyle, “Undoubtedly, we’re going to be able to create jobs, including inside the American auto sector.”

“We will bring down the cost of living. It’s going to be easier to heat your home, to purchase a vehicle, to operate a business,” the former New York congressman said, touting President Donald Trump’s economic plan. 

“A lot of Americans struggling to make ends meet want common sense back into the federal government, and we’re going to do our part at the EPA,” Zeldin continued. “So that’s why we made this announcement. It’s a lot of regulatory actions impacting the energy space. We want to make it easier for people to be able to access choice.”

In its announcement, the EPA stated that the deregulatory actions will “roll back trillions in regulatory costs and hidden ‘taxes’” on American families.

One of the larger commitments made by the agency was to clear the hundreds of backlogged cases having to do with clean air, saying the Biden administration focused on “ideological pursuits” rather than the agency’s “core mission.”

Zeldin also told Boyle that the EPA is “eliminating” the Biden administration’s electric vehicle (EV) mandate.

“President Trump talks about clean, beautiful coal, and what we’re doing on Wednesday is going to save the coal industry,” he stated.

“I’ve been told that we’re going after the holy grail of the climate change religion, and I would just say this: that we can protect the environment and grow the economy. It’s not a binary choice,” he explained. “We don’t have to just choose one. The Trump administration chooses both.”

The latest rollbacks came soon after Zeldin announced massive cuts made with the help of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), including the cancellation of 400 DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) and EJ (environmental justice) grants to save nearly $2 billion, and a pledge to recover the $20 billion in taxpayer funds lost by the Biden administration to climate projects.

Breitbart News Saturday airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Eastern.