The Long Island Association hosted Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, for a conversation at the Crest Hollow Country Club. The April 11 discussion focused on the connection between environmental protection and the potential for economic prosperity.
During the event Zeldin, a Long Island native, who represented the region in Congress, discussed actions he has taken as head of the EPA during Trump’s first 100 days, including canceling over $22 billion in grants and contracts.
“We here on Long Island know better then anyone that environmental protection and economic growth are not mutually exclusive,” said Matt Cohen, LIA president and CEO. “In a lot of ways, our environment here on Long Island is our economy and so there is no reason why we cant support businesses, create new jobs, while also ensuring that our region has clean air, clean water, and were diversifying our energy mix.
Under Zeldin’s leadership, the EPA has launched an initiative titled “The Great American Comeback,” to help achieve the agency’s mission of protecting human health and the environment while energizing the American economy. This includes plans to provide clean air, land, and water for every American, restoring the country’s dominance in the energy market, reforming permitting and streamlining cross-agency partnerships, advancing in the AI field, and bringing back jobs in the auto-industry.
“We need to both protect the environment and grow the economy, we can’t just choose,” Zeldin said. “We have to approach the challenges in this country by asking ourselves, is there a way to work through this challenge in a way where we are both protecting the environment and growing the economy?”
As part of the initiative to further energy production, the EPA has deregulated several industries, including regulations on power plants, the oil and gas industry, mandatory greenhouse gas reporting, wastewater regulations, and risk management programs in oil and natural gas refineries.
“This is a moment in time for companies and industries to articulate how you care about the environment, to self-police within your own industry,” Zeldin said. “If there is a bad actor who is ruining it for everybody, say something to them. If you’re a good steward of the environment, let it be known.” Despite a key role of the EPA, since its 1970 designation, is regulation of industry to serve the agency’s mission of protecting human health.
Zeldin discussed the future of offshore wind, a field that has greatly benefited the Long Island economy. “The president has made crystal clear that he is not approving new wind permits right now,” he said. To increase energy production in the U.S., Zeldin shared, “I happen to be a proponent of building more pipelines.”
He suggested the Constitution Pipeline project, a 124-mile natural gas pipeline stretching from Pennsylvania to New York, near Albany, that is supported by the Trump administration. The project, which was denied necessary permits by NYS state in 2016 and cancelled in 2020, is one in several points of contention between NYS and the Trump administration over energy policy. “The push on energy policy is one that there is a source of disagreement with the Trump administration on,” Zeldin said.
“It’s important for our national security, our economy, and our environment, to be in charge of our own destiny, as it relates to tapping into energy, as opposed to relying on foreign sources,” he said.
Zeldin discussed Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, also known as PFAs or forever chemicals, stating, “what you see around the country, is that a lot of the contamination was caused by the federal government.” He continued, “The federal government has a responsibility, as it relates to where it has contaminated itself, to clean it up.”
Members of the advocacy group Long Island Clean Air Water an Soil, along with the NGO Food and Water Watch, gathered at the entrance to the Crest Hollow Country Club to protest Zeldin’s rolling back of protections for air, water and the climate.
“I’ve always strongly believed that being pro-environment is pro-business,” said Dave Denenberg, co-director of Long Island Clean Air Water and Soil, Ltd. “By cutting funding to environmental agencies and rolling back environmental protections, you’re not just hurting the environment, but you’re hurting local businesses, jobs, and everything we love about Long Island.”
