Under tough questioning Thursday by Democrats on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Lee Zeldin, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to head the EPA, affirmed a belief in climate change while pledging strict interpretation of the country’s environmental laws.
Zeldin, a former House lawmaker from New York, is expected to be confirmed based on strong support from Republicans. That left Democrats trying to pin him down on green policy and whether he differs from Trump’s stated view that climate change is a hoax.
“I believe that climate change is real,” Zeldin said under questioning from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. “As far as President Trump goes, the context that I heard him speak about it was with a criticism of policies that have been [enacted] because of climate change, and I think he’s concerned about the economic costs of some policies.”
