Earlier in his tenure, EPA Administrator Zeldin vowed to “drive a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion.” He promised to lower the cost of living, unleash American energy, and bring back jobs. How, you might ask, would the nation accomplish that? Through deregulation.

Deregulation, and regulation, are powerful tactics that often go unnoticed by the general public. They involve wonky policy debates, endless acronyms, and years of litigation. It’s hard to track and often involves rules and standards that feel distant from our day-to-day lives. But when states, corporations, and individuals do business, these standards and laws act as a code of conduct that holds them accountable and protects our communities. 

Today’s free market approach often prioritizes profit – and deregulation – over people and planet, but a robust economy depends on a balance of all three. Over the past month, amidst the flurry of holiday travel and the deluge of other news, EPA Administrator Zeldin took quiet steps to deliver on his promise to scale back environmental regulations. The latest rollbacks will have a resounding impact on our water, air, and wildlife. Zeldin proposed stripping protections for 55 million acres of wetlands from the Clean Water Act, removing federal protections from 85 percent of wetlands nationwide. Then, just one day later, federal wildlife agencies proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act that, if implemented, would make it harder to rescue endangered species from the brink of extinction. The EPA also announced it is extending critical compliance deadlines for methane release standards for oil and gas producers. Meanwhile, the Department of Interior moved to allow oil and gas drilling across nearly 1.3 billion acres of U.S. coastal waters. The proposed rule changes and directive were announced in several press releases and offered limited opportunities for the public to engage—comment periods ranged from 60 to just 30 days. 

Zeldin’s plan dismantles common sense safeguards that protect land users, families, and small businesses. These are not thoughtful, targeted improvements that protect the environment while reducing unnecessary barriers. Instead, they rely on an overly aggressive, sweeping approach, when what is needed is a more targeted response. We must balance economic ambition with environmental and human protections. 

We may never reach zero carbon emissions, but we must reduce the burden that the fossil fuel industry places on our communities. We may not protect every species, but we can limit human impact and prevent further decline? We may not preserve every wetland from being altered, but we can ensure that when nature is disrupted, it is restored or even improved. Our economy and our public health depend on reaching these forward thinking goals. 

To accomplish them,  at the very least we must preserve the opportunity for public comment – instead of allowing the current EPA to reduce or eliminate meaningful opportunities and ample time for consideration, expert testimony, and research. . We must use every opportunity to submit comments, share our concerns with leaders, and speak up for our people, our communities, and the environment. And we must champion practical regulations that protect our land, air, water, and health.

While Administrator Zeldin brags about doing “more deregulation in one year than entire federal governments in the past have done across all federal agencies combined,” we must ask ourselves, at what cost? What do we gain in the short term and what do we lose in the long term? Since the ’70s, the EPA has taken significant steps to protect human health and our environment. Take for example the EPA Energy Star program which has brought energy efficient appliances to our homes, empowering consumers to save billions of dollars in energy costs, or the brownfield cleanup program that has revitalized blighted communities. Without science-based, strategically targeted regulations, pollution from tailings piles will continue to seep into our waterways unchecked, or asthma rates in our inner-city neighborhoods may continue to climb.

Yes, we must change regulations that are burdensome, poorly implemented, or contain problematic loopholes but we must commit to building a system that balances people, planet, and profit. For a stool falls if it doesn’t have all three legs.

Zoe Zeerip is a Groundwork Clean Energy Specialist.
zoe.zeerip@groundworkcenter.org