Trump EPA pick says he’ll protect clean air… by making the air dirtier?
It looks like the next EPA head will likely be Lee Zeldin, a former New York Congressman and failed gubernatorial candidate, and he’s already promising policy moves that would make the air dirtier and increase health and fuel costs for Americans.
The nominee doesn’t have a particularly extensive environmental background, without a lot of specific advocacy on environmental topics.
As a result, various environmental protection organizations have released statements pointing out his poor record on environmental legislation in the past and expressing concern at his likely destructive rollbacks to come. In 2020, while he was in Congress, he received the worst environmental score out of the entire New York congressional delegation.
Estimations of the likelihood of these destructive actions can be informed by the period between 2017-2021, which was marked by severe corruption by two EPA heads with deep ties to the oil & gas and coal industries.
The first of those EPA heads, Scott Pruitt, gained prominence by suing the EPA to stop clean air, and in his tenure ended up being so corrupt that he was forced to resign – quite a feat given that administration’s over 3,700 conflicts of interest.
The second, Andrew Wheeler, was a coal lobbyist who tried to orchestrate a $70 billion bailout for the coal industry and showed incredible ignorance and mendacity when discussing the state of his own agency’s regulations.
What we do know about Zeldin’s plans were announced this morning, when he noted to the media that he wants to pull back on the EPA regulations of the last four years.
While we don’t know what specific regulations he intends to target, it is likely that there would be sweeping and/or scattershot actions to reduce the progress of the last four years. Regulations implemented by the EPA under President Biden will save Americans $250B/year in health and energy costs and save 200k lives in total.
Rolling back those regulations, as Zeldin has said he wants to do, would cost Americans money in the form of higher health and fuel costs, and would cause more death.
The reason these rollbacks would cause more death and higher costs is because they would increase air pollution, which is a major driver of death and disease and a major drain on economic productivity. The rollbacks would also increase costs because the targeted regulations are focused on efficiency, and reducing efficiency means higher energy costs for the nation in total.
We also know that Zeldin has received a similar amount of money from the oil & gas industry as Trump’s first corrupt EPA pick. Zeldin has received $269,608 in lifetime political bribes from the Oil & Gas industry – not his largest chunk of donations when sorted by industry, but still significant. This is similar to the pricetag on corrupt oil & gas stooge Scott Pruitt, who earned around $300k in bribes from oil & gas for his work to advance dirty air prior to his appointment as chief saboteur of the EPA.
In exchange for these relatively low pricetags, the richest and most destructive industry in the history of the world – which receives over $700 billion in subsidies yearly in the US alone – received significant boosts from destructive actions at the agency that is tasked with keeping the air you breathe clean.
Alongside his statements today, Zeldin also said that will make these rollbacks “while protecting access to clean air and water,” but it remains to be seen how that is possible. Given that the specific policy actions he has already suggested are incredibly destructive to clean air, this particular quote rings as if it may be untrue. He also said something about artificial intelligence, which it’s unclear what the EPA has anything to do with (unless he was referring to doing something about the massive unnecessary energy use from the sector, but that seems unlikely).
Zeldin said that he wants to ensure US “energy dominance,” which is unlikely to happen with any strategy that focuses away from the technologies of the future. The EPA’s actions of the last four years, and President Biden’s actions as a whole, have all coalesced around a strategy of bringing EV and battery manufacturing to the US so that the US can be ready to provide the products of the future.
Mr. Trump, in contrast, is already seeking to roll back the policies that have successfully led to hundreds of billions in investment and hundreds of thousands of jobs in green industry, despite him being ignorant of what those policies are in the first place.
While in Congress, Zeldin voted against the Inflation Reduction Act, the bill that brought those jobs and billions in investment to the US. But in yet another piece of Orwellian doublespeak, Zeldin said today that he wants to “bring back American jobs to the auto industry,” despite it being clear that he and Mr. Trump both want to roll back policies that have brought back American jobs to the auto industry.
All that said, Zeldin also was a member of a bipartisan “climate solutions caucus” in 2016, and voted against a republican amendment to slash EPA funding in 2020. So it’s not all bad, it’s just 86% bad.
And there is one more silver lining here. Earlier this year, the “Supreme” Court stupidly opined that government agencies should be restrained in their ability to do their jobs when it eliminated something called the Chevron doctrine.
You can read more about that here, but in short, the opinion would make it harder for EPA to change regulations going forward. So Zeldin might have his work cut out for him, as he will likely have to fight against the scientists at his own agency and the courts to implement the dirty-air policies that he has already indicated he wants to implement.
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Leading electric vehicle analyst, author, and industry thought leaders Loren McDonald and Bill Ferro stop by Quick Charge to discuss EV Adoption’s acquisition by Paren, the “crisis” of EV charging reliability, and the real state of the EV market.
Depending on who you listen, EVs are either driving brands to record growth and are about cross that critical 10% of the overall market nationwide, or the future is bleak, the market is down, and EVs just aren’t selling. What’s really going on? Loren and Bill (probably) have some answers.
Today’s episode is sponsored by BLUETTI, a leading provider of portable power stations, solar generators, and energy storage systems. For a limited time, save up to 52% during BLUETTI’s exclusive Black Friday sale, now through November 28, and be sure to use promo code BLUETTI5OFF for 5% off all power stations site wide. Click here to learn more.
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Read more: All my favorite EVs, racecars, and robots from Electrify Expo Austin.
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Chevy EV owners in Texas who have Reliant as their electric utility can now charge for free at night with renewable energy.
Over 150 Chevrolet dealerships across Texas are now offering the Reliant Free Charge Nights plan to new EV buyers. With Free Charge Nights, customers can offset their charging costs by receiving credits for electricity used between 11 pm and 6 am. The plan is powered entirely by renewable energy, thanks to the purchase of renewable energy certificates (RECs).
Rasesh Patel, president of NRG Consumer, says the plan is about making power personal: “We’re excited to help Chevrolet EV drivers offset the cost of charging their vehicle all while having access to a renewable electricity plan.”
This collaboration aims to make EV adoption more appealing by making charging cheaper and greener. GM Energy’s chief revenue officer, Aseem Kapur, emphasized that partnerships like this help build the ecosystem needed to support an all-electric future: “The Reliant Free Charge Nights plan is a great example of how an automaker and an energy company can work together to make EV adoption an easy decision.”
Existing Reliant customers can also sign up for the Free Charge Nights plan. To get started, Chevrolet EV owners need to designate their vehicle on the GM Energy Smart Charging Portal before enrolling in the plan.
Reliant Energy, a subsidiary of NRG Energy, serves over 1.5 million customers in Texas, making it one of the largest electricity providers in the state.
Read more: Texas to get 1 GW AI-powered virtual power plant, enough to power 200,000 homes
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Texas is about to get a major power boost – a new AI-powered virtual power plant (VPP) delivering capacity equivalent to 200,000 homes during peak demand.
NRG Energy is teaming up with Renew Home to bring nearly 1 gigawatt (GW) of capacity to the Texas grid by 2035, aiming to make it more resilient while helping residents save on energy costs.
The new VPP will rely on hundreds of thousands of smart thermostats and other connected home devices, making use of AI technology provided by Google Cloud. These devices, like Vivint and Nest smart thermostats, will be offered to eligible customers at no cost. By automating HVAC adjustments, they help shift energy use to when electricity is cheaper, cleaner, and less strained.
NRG and Renew Home have big plans for the VPP. Starting in spring 2025, the companies plan to roll out the program across Texas, installing these smart thermostats in homes served by NRG’s retail electricity providers. Eventually, they plan to add home battery storage and EVs to expand the power plant’s capabilities.
Texas has faced record-breaking energy demands, with peak usage hitting 85 GW in 2023. As the state’s population grows and extreme weather becomes more frequent, VPPs like this one could play a key role in stabilizing the grid. VPPs aggregate a lot of small-scale energy resources, from smart thermostats to home batteries, and use them to help balance supply and demand during times of high stress on the grid.
This nearly 1 GW VPP will be one of the largest of its kind in Texas. NRG’s president of consumer operations, Rasesh Patel, calls it a “pivotal step” for improving customer experience while making Texas’ energy infrastructure more sustainable and resilient.
In addition to Renew Home, NRG is working with Google Cloud to maximize the power plant’s effectiveness. Google Cloud’s AI and analytics tools will help predict weather conditions, forecast renewable generation, and optimize energy usage, all of which will help make energy management smoother for both customers and the grid.
Ben Brown, CEO of Renew Home, said:
NRG’s commitment to creating a more resilient and sustainable energy future while also making electricity bills more affordable makes them an ideal partner for co-developing this unique VPP program.
This initiative raises the bar for future-proofing our electricity infrastructure and delivering cost savings to customers.
Read: Chinese solar giant Trina sells its Texas factory a week after it opens
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