How Trump's EPA head has transformed the agency — and sided with polluters

Lee Zeldin’s tenure as head of the Environmental Protection Agency marks a fundamental shift in the agency’s mission, moving away from public health protection toward a deregulatory agenda that prioritizes fossil fuel interests. The dismantling of the Office of Research and Development, a scientific arm previously independent from political influence, effectively removes a critical layer of environmental oversight. Furthermore, the rescission of the endangerment finding—a cornerstone of climate policy based on the 2007 Supreme Court decision *Massachusetts v. EPA*—seeks to prevent future administrations from using the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Elizabeth Kolbert highlights how these actions, coupled with the systemic removal of experts, create a "lock-in" effect for fossil fuel infrastructure that will have lasting, irreversible consequences for climate change mitigation and public health.