Lee Zeldin has fundamentally corrupted the EPA, transforming it from environmental protector to industry ally
Source: Elizabeth Kolbert. "Can the E.P.A. Survive Lee Zeldin? | The New Yorker." April 27, 2026. www.newyorker.com
The Gist
Elizabeth Kolbert argues that Lee Zeldin has completely corrupted the EPA by firing scientists, canceling health protections, and turning the agency into a tool for polluting industries instead of protecting the environment and public health.
Conclusion
Lee Zeldin has transformed the EPA from an agency devoted to protecting human health and the environment into one that openly sides with polluters, fundamentally corrupting its mission
Premises
- Zeldin has packed the EPA's upper echelons with former industry lobbyists and dissolved entire departments
- The agency has abandoned regulations protecting Americans from arsenic, mercury, and PM2.5 pollution under his leadership
- Zeldin has not only abandoned EPA efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but actively prevents states from taking climate action
- He retaliated against 144 EPA staff members who criticized his leadership by placing them on administrative leave
- The EPA has officially adopted a pro-coal stance, directly contradicting its environmental protection mandate
- Zeldin has scrubbed environmental databases from the EPA website and gutted the agency's research division
- His naked partisanship and tendency to ignore EPA scientists has undermined institutional trust and scientific integrity
Assumptions
- The EPA's primary mission should be protecting human health and the environment, not serving industry interests
- Scientific expertise and research should guide environmental policy decisions
- Government agencies should maintain institutional integrity and non-partisan professionalism
- Retaliation against whistleblowing employees indicates corrupt leadership
- Environmental regulations that protect public health are inherently valuable