WASHINGTON 鈥� Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, will be the opening speaker at a conference next month sponsored by the Heartland Institute, a group that rejects the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change, the organization has announced.
President Donald Trump routinely mocks climate change as a 鈥渉oax.鈥� His administration has rolled back protections for air and water, and has tried to give up the power to regulate greenhouse gases. Yet scientists and one former Republican EPA administrator still expressed alarm at the idea of the nation鈥檚 chief environmental official speaking at an event for a research organization that argues there is 鈥渘o such thing鈥� as climate-driven floods, hurricanes and extreme heat.
Brigit Hirsch, a spokesperson for Zeldin, said in a statement that the administrator 鈥渢akes the opportunity to speak before a wide variety of ideologically different groups and individuals to promote the agenda of the Trump EPA.鈥�
Since the EPA was created in 1970, its mission has been to protect human health and the environment. Zeldin has introduced a new set of five priorities, most of which are departures from the agency鈥檚 core responsibilities. One references maintaining 鈥渃lean land, air and water for every American.鈥� But the others include pursuing 鈥渆nergy dominance,鈥� a Trump administration doctrine to maximize production of fossil fuels; speeding the approval of new projects like oil and gas pipelines; bolstering the automobile industry; and a pledge to 鈥渕ake the United States the Artificial Intelligence capital of the world.鈥�
The Heartland Institute, which is based in Schaumburg, Illinois, describes itself as a think tank that promotes free-market solutions to social and economic problems.
The group argues that the burning of fossil fuels is not driving a crisis and that a warming planet may bring benefits. The director of the Heartland Institute鈥檚 environmental center, H. Sterling Burnett, has claimed 鈥渢here is no physical evidence to support the theory humans are causing a dangerous global warming.鈥�
The organization announced Thursday that Zeldin would open its 16th annual conference in Washington. The two-day event, starting April 8, is billed as an international climate change conference, but the organization said it would feature speakers 鈥渨ho challenge the narrative that the world faces a 鈥榗limate crisis.鈥欌��
This article originally appeared in .
漏 2026 The New York Times Company