Lee Zeldin Says It’s ‘Very Telling’ China Wants To Keep ‘Biden EPA Rule In Place’

WASHINGTON — Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin told reporters Tuesday that it is “very telling” that China would want to keep a “Biden EPA rule in place.” China is purportedly seeking to…

Audrey StrebOct 28, 20254 min read

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WASHINGTON — Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin told reporters Tuesday that it is “very telling” that China would want to keep a “Biden EPA rule in place.”

China is purportedly seeking to shape American Energy policy by submitting public comments advocating for harsher Obama and Biden-era rules on power plants in a move that has several Energy sector experts concerned, the Daily Caller News Foundationpreviously reported. In response to a DCNF question on the issue, Zeldin told reporters Tuesday that his agency is proposing regulatory action that “makes America stronger” and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) “weaker.”

“When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) provides a public comment regarding one of our proposed rules, my first thought is that we should do the opposite of whatever they want us to do,” Zeldin told reporters Tuesday. “It’s pretty striking that the Chinese Communist Party would want us to keep a Biden EPA rule in place. It’s very telling, and I would say it only provides me more clarity that we’re on the right track that we’re proposing regulatory action that makes America stronger and the CCP weaker.”

The People’s Republic of China left at least three

Sponsored

different

public comments

on EPA rule proposals that would cut or reform some aggressive Biden-era regulations that

Energy

policy

experts

have

previously

told the DCNF could devastate America’s power grid. Zeldin has

proposed

several

deregulatory actions

to boost American

Energy

while safeguarding human health and the environment, including rules that drew China’s attention in August.

Specifically, China urged the EPA to preserve its emissions rules for coal- and oil-fired power plants, maintain existing greenhouse gas standards for fossil fuel plants and refrain from imposing restrictions on foreign renewable fuel imports. The EPA introduced the threeproposedrules to roll back strict Obama and Biden-era emissionsstandards and to update renewable fuel standards as part of “reducing reliance on foreign sources of oil,” according to the agency.

“This is the same regime that burns more coal than the rest of the world combined, without the pollution controls that have made America a world leader in clean air,” Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute, told the DCNF previously. “Anyone opposing these reforms is, wittingly or not, aligning with China’s economic interests over America’s. Trump is right to put American Energy first, and his critics should have to explain why they’re siding with the Chinese Communist Party over American Energy and environmental excellence.”

“As a matter of principle, I’d like to emphasize that climate change concerns the survival and development of every country and every individual, and the future and destiny of mankind. All countries should make efforts to address this situation,” a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy told the DCNF. “China has been a staunch doer in green development. China is committed to green development that prioritizes eco-conservation, and will continue acting responsibly as an ‘enabler’ and working with the rest of the world to implement the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and build a clean, beautiful and sustainable world.”

China leads the world in pollution, emitting 30% of greenhouse gasses in 2022. Though some corporate media outlets have hailedChina as a leader in implementing green Energy resources like wind and solar and recently setting an emissions goal, China has also continued to churn out new coal plants, according to multiplereports.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with comment from the Chinese Embassy.

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