Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin schooled CNN’s Kasie Hunt live on her own show when she displayed misleading and unrelated clips of power plants blowing smoke into the sky while talking about his plan to deregulate motor vehicles.
After the EPA released its proposal last week to rescind Obama-era regulations that “paved the way for electric vehicle mandates,” Zeldin joined Hunt on Sunday’s episode of “State of the Union” to have a good-faith conversation about it — but that is not what he got.
When CNN host Hunt asked Zeldin if he accepted “the overwhelming scientific consensus that these greenhouse gas emissions are the biggest drivers of man-made climate change,” he pointed out that the “B-roll” footage playing during the segment was far more dramatic than gas-powered cars and had nothing to do with the deregulation in question.
“Well, it’s great to be on with you,” Zeldin began. “First, it’s worth pointing out that all eight or so images that you just posted on the screen have nothing to do with this week’s announcement.”
“What the 2009 Endangerment Finding had to do with was with regards to mobile sources — vehicles,” the former New York congressman stated, referring to the Obama administration policy that he plans to undo.
The EPA said the July 29 proposal would “repeal all resulting greenhouse gas emissions regulations for motor vehicles and engines, thereby reinstating consumer choice and giving Americans the ability to purchase a safe and affordable car for their family while decreasing the cost of living on all products that trucks deliver.”
What the EPA’s announcement does not have to do with is factories with smokestacks releasing gases into the air — despite CNN’s implied connection.
“This week’s proposal to rescind the 2009 endangerment finding was with regards to mobile sources — vehicles. CNN’s been using a lot of photos where they show smokestacks of stationary sources like power plants. That’s not what we proposed,” Zeldin continued on CNN. “Now going back to 2009, the science that they were reviewing included both optimistic to pessimistic scenarios. To reach the 2009 endangerment finding, they relied on the most pessimistic views of the science.”
The proposal was praised by other senior Trump administration officials, including Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Chris Wright, Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Doug Burgum, Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Kelly Loeffler, and White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought.
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.
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