United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin appeared on Fox Business Wednesday to discuss how he says the Biden-era EPA mismanaged billions in taxpayer funds.
During an appearance on “The Evening Edit,” Zeldin talked about what he said was a gross mismanagement of funds by the previous administration. Zeldin said this amid ongoing scrutiny of the Biden administration’s financial dealings, particularly concerning a $20 billion spending initiative.
“I would really say it’s this entire scheme of what to do with the $20 billion where the money is fronted to eight entities. By the way, Free Beacon just came out with a story about an hour ago where $2 billion went to Stacey Abrams’ group, even though that group only received $100 in 2023. Yeah, in 2024 they got $2 billion,” Zeldin said when asked what was the most egregious thing he found in the EPA that the Biden administration left behind.
Zeldin said this was done as a rushed effort by the Biden administration to disburse massive sums in the days leading up to the presidential transition.
“These eight entities are all pastor entities to sub-grantees. Many of those sub-grantees are also pastor entities. And the way this whole thing was designed, both the financial agent agreement between Treasury and the bank, the account control agreement with EPA, the bank, and the primary recipients, these were all built to tie EPA’s hands behind their back and to ensure less accountability and less oversight,” Zeldin added. “It was a race against time prior to Inauguration Day to get out $20 billion that the Biden EPA said, as they were caught on camera, throwing gold bars off the Titanic.”
Zeldin’s criticisms didn’t stop at fiscal mismanagement. He said that there was a shift in the EPA’s mission under his leadership, contrasting it with what he perceives as the previous administration’s focus on channeling billions toward-ideologically driven groups under the guise of environmental justice.
“During the last four years, you saw this push towards spending tens of billions of dollars to left-wing ideological groups. That’s in the name of environmental justice. Well, if you want to help a community that’s been left behind, if you’re going to spend a dollar, spend it on remediating that environmental issue in the first place rather than giving it to some left-wing activist group,” Zeldin said.
“I canceled a $50 million grant to the Climate Justice Alliance. They say climate justice is through a free Palestine. As far as the Trump EPA, we are prioritizing first and foremost this core mission of making sure that we have clean air, land, and water.”
Last week, Zeldin announced his team’s efforts to regain control of funds from Biden’s EPA Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a program that provided financial support to green organizations investing in technology projects, with several recipients tied to the Democratic Party. Additionally, the Biden administration allocated $1.6 billion in taxpayer funds to 105 entities, including left-wing activist groups, through the EPA.
“One of my very top priorities at EPA is to be an excellent steward of your hard-earned tax dollars. There will be zero tolerance of any waste and abuse,” Zeldin said in his Wednesday statement posted to X. “We will review every penny that has gone out the door. The days of irresponsibly shoveling boat loads of cash to far-left activist groups in the name of environmental justice and climate equity are over.”
(Featured Image Media Credit:Screenshot/Fox Business)
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