Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency struggled to answer straightforward questions about science.
At his confirmation hearing on Thursday, former Rep. Lee Zeldin faced scrutiny of his limited environmental experience. For one senator, Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse, this took the form of a science pop quiz—asking, in his words, “really basic no-tricks questions about climate change.”
Whitehouse started off with a softball: “First, as a matter of law, is carbon dioxide a pollutant?”
“As far as carbon dioxide emitted from you during that question, I would say no,” Zeldin quipped, to no laughs. “As far as carbon dioxide that is emitted in larger masses, that we hear concern about from scientists, as well as from Congress, that’s something that certainly needs to be focused on for the EPA.”
Whitehouse wasn’t satisfied, though. “As a matter of law, it is a designated pollutant, correct?” he asked.
“Senator, while carbon dioxide is not named as one of the six in the Clean Air Act, the EPA has been treating it as such,” Zeldin said, to which Whitehouse noted that the Supreme Court had, in fact, ruled in 2007 that it was a pollutant.
Question two required a short answer rather than a true-false.
“What effect—briefly and in layman terms, I know you’re not a scientific expert—what effect are carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion having in the atmosphere?” Whitehouse asked.
Declining to answer the question head-on, Zeldin fired back that he is “someone who believes strongly that we should work with the scientists, leaving the science to the scientist, the policy to the policymakers, and that we all work together.”
“I don’t sit before you as a scientist,” Zeldin added. “Fortunately, at EPA we do have many talented scientists who provide that research. They have that talent to be able to tell us exactly what the metrics are of their research—”
Whitehouse cut him off and pressed for a straightforward answer.
“Uh, trapping—trapping heat, senator,” Zeldin stuttered.
Whitehouse pressed Zeldin over his basic scientific knowledge. / ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images
Whitehouse then asked him to name the effects of “methane leakage from fossil fuel production and transport” in the atmosphere.
Zeldin’s response: “Same.”
“What effect are carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion having in the oceans?” Whitehouse asked.
“Well, the emissions of greenhouse gases, um, trap—trap heat, Senator,” Zeldin reiterated, adding that “rising sea levels are concerns where I’m from as well.”
Zeldin had limited experience working on environmental policy as a congressman and, as he noted throughout the hearing, no scientific or climate-related background.
Whitehouse continued, asking Zeldin whether the Earth has hit “1.5 degree risk threshold,” adding: “Why is that important?”
Zeldin, who is expected to lift regulations protecting the environment, demurred that he would “defer to the talented scientists to be able to provide that advice on an ongoing basis.”
In fact, the world did hit that threshold of warming, which signals an increased risk of climate-related disasters, for the first time ever in 2024.
Whitehouse asked him to name any key climate “tipping points.” Zeldin, stammering, couldn’t come up with a single one. “I think that as you put up a map of your district and your state, I could put up a map of mine and we could do this across the entire country. As long as that concern exists where there is in fact rising sea levels and I hear from both sides of the aisle… ” Zeldin said before Whitehouse cut him off.
To finish off the quiz, Whitehouse asked, “are we now on a pathway to climate safety or do we need to do more to reduce carbon emissions in order to get on that pathway?”
Zeldin earned maybe a few partial credit points at best. He concluded that “we will have never done enough to ensure that our water and our air is clean, safe and healthy. Whatever we do every day to achieve this objective, we need to wake up the next day looking for ways to do more.”
