Activists Disrupt EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin As He Moves To End The Agency’s Fight Against Climate Change

News Desk | July 28, 2025 | International | Follow on Google News

Activists Disrupt EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin As He Moves To End The Agency’s Fight Against Climate Change

THE HAMPTONS, NY — This morning, activists with Climate Defiance boldly disrupted EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin during his speech at the Global Breakfast Forum, held at The Hamptons Synagogue. Young Jewish activists challenged Zeldin to oust himself as a climate denier and exhorted, “the Torah commands us to be stewards of the Earth, not the oil industry.” Community members responded with vitriol. One even attacked a protester with a chair, saying it was their right to do so.

The protest took place in Lee Zeldin’s own former congressional district—New York’s 1st. The irony is stark: under Zeldin’s leadership at the EPA, the community who supported him throughout his political career now face greater risks. The Hamptons, impacted by Hurricane Sandy, is confronting intensifying storms, rising seas, beach erosion, and flooding—all worsened by the accelerating climate crisis.

The protest comes on the heels of this week’s disturbing announcement that the EPA plans to overturn the Endangerment Finding of the Clean Air and Water Act. The finding, which identifies greenhouse gases as a threat to public health, serves as the main basis for laws and policies in the US fight against climate change. Since Zeldin’s appointment, the EPA has boasted the most rollbacks on regulations in its history. If the Endangerment Finding is overturned, the administration will bury the agency having any real stance on the worsening climate crisis.

The EPA is arguing that the real threat of the finding to public health is “higher prices and reduced consumer choices.” This economic vs environmental dichotomy is an old song for the administration and climate deniers, with Zeldin declaring he would be an EPA administrator for “energy dominance” when he was tapped after Trump’s election.

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“You have taken nearly half a million from fossil fuels!” decried Nathaniel, one of the protesters. He also asked what authority Zeldin or the EPA has to undo its environmental protections in favor of economic ones under its mandate. “There are projections from leading economic bodies such as the World Bank and IMF– far from liberal or leftist institutions– that are very clear on the severe economic consequences of inaction on the climate crisis. One report states up to half of global GDP could be on the chopping block this century, and those are just the economic impacts. The impact on life, human and otherwise, will be much worse,” said Nathaniel.

Using the Project 2025 Tracker, a tool online for up to date progress of the Heritage Foundation’s infamous plan shows that 57% of its climate goals have been accomplished. A member of Extinction Rebellion NYC, who collaborated on the protest, said, “Heritage has long been helmed by fossil fuel interests like Koch Industries, which has done some of the heaviest lifting to make sure nothing is done on climate change in the US. The majority of these wishes have been executed by Zeldin himself, and through Trump, who asked for $1 billion from oil companies in a dinner at Mar a Lago during his campaign. His Big, Beautiful Bill is a wish list directly penned in Project 2025. And when we hit 4 degrees of warming this century, we will know the true cost of these deadly practices.”