Lee Zeldin, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, told Newsmax on Friday that the Trump administration's sweeping rollback of Obama-era climate regulations will save Americans thousands of dollars and marks what he called the "largest act of deregulation in American history."
On "Ed Henry: The Big Take," Zeldin said the regulatory cuts — announced Thursday with President Donald Trump at the White House — eliminate more than $1.3 trillion in what he described as burdensome climate mandates, particularly on the automobile industry.
"You get at it right there when you talk about over $2,400 of savings for more affordable new vehicles," Zeldin said, arguing that rolling back greenhouse gas emission standards will significantly lower costs for consumers buying cars and trucks.
He specifically pointed to the unpopular start-stop engine feature, which shuts off vehicles at red lights to reduce emissions.
"That climate participation trophy that the Obama administration awarded manufacturers for putting a feature into a vehicle to make it stop at red lights and stop signs," Zeldin said.
"We got rid of all greenhouse gas emission standards on light, medium and heavy-duty vehicles and all of the climate participation trophies, all of the start-stop, all the off-cycle credits. They're all gone as well. It's a pretty big deal," he added.
At the center of the rollback is the 2009 endangerment finding, which determined greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health and welfare.
Zeldin argued that former President Barack Obama's administration used that finding to justify sweeping regulations across sectors including airplanes, oil and natural gas, and stationary sources.
"When you add it all up, you're talking about trillions of dollars of regulation," he said.
Responding to criticism from Obama and climate activist Al Gore, the former vice president, Zeldin defended the move as restoring the rule of law.
"We're going to follow the law," he said, asserting that Obama and congressional allies tried and failed to amend the Clean Air Act to authorize such sweeping climate rules.
"They couldn't get the votes. They weren't able to amend the Clean Air Act.
"What did they decide? Well, we're just going to do it anyway."
Zeldin added that Trump ordered a review on his first day back in office and moved quickly — "Trump speed" — to unwind the regulations.
"Of course Obama is mad. Of course Al Gore is flipping out on social media. They're losing power.
"They have utilized their bad assumptions, their flawed guesses that didn't pan out to be able to give out tens of billions of dollars to their friends through left-wing NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] to be able to put regulations into place, even though laws didn't allow it.
"That's over," Zeldin said.
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