How environmental agencies could be managed under new Trump administration

President-elect Donald Trump is quickly naming members of his cabinet and administration — some of whom will oversee large government agencies responsible for everything from clean water and air to energy to how our public lands are managed.

What Trump’s picks can accomplish is largely based on the agency they oversee.

Here’s a look at what these potential cabinet heads would be responsible for after taking office.

Environmental Protection Agency

Trump tapped former Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin to head up the Environmental Protection Agency.

“He will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet,” Trump said. “He will set new standards on environmental review and maintenance, that will allow the United States to grow in a healthy and well-structured way.”

The EPA works to protect the environment in the United States, particularly as it relates to human health.

The agency includes scientists who study environmental issues at labs and academic institutions across the nation, a regulatory arm that implements environmental laws passed by Congress through national standards and grant-making programs that fund projects such as community clean-ups, recycling infrastructure, electric school buses and others.

The “deregulatory decisions” Trump referenced in his announcement of Zeldin are widely expected by environmental groups to encompass a slew of rollbacks on Biden-era regulations and environmental protections around things such as emissions standards for vehicles and power plants.

Aru Shiney-Ajay, the executive director of Sunrise Movement — a youth-led climate advocacy group — said the pick of Zeldin is “yet another example of Trump filling his administration with unqualified loyalists who lack the expertise needed to manage essential federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency.”

Shiney-Ajay called Zeldin’s record on climate “appalling,” emphasizing aspects of his congressional voting record, including voting against the Biden administration’s key climate legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act.

Zeldin’s record from his time in Congress does also include some pro-environmental votes that suggest a concern for water issues, including votes for allowing the EPA to set PFAS drinking water standards and a reauthorization of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

Department of the Interior

Trump tapped North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to lead the Department of the Interior.

DOI manages the nation’s natural resources and public lands, in addition to navigating relationships with Native tribes and the conservation of the environment and endangered species.

Under the Biden administration, the department has prioritized clean energy development, improving relationships with Tribal Nations and the conservation and restoration of public lands and waters through the “America the Beautiful” initiative.

In his official announcement of Burgum, Trump said the governor’s role as secretary of the Interior and chairman of a newly formed “National Energy Council” will lead to “U.S. energy dominance,” which was a key refrain for the president-elect on the campaign trail. He also expressed a desire to deemphasize longstanding regulations, similar to his comments about Zeldin’s appointment as EPA administrator.

Trump said the “National Energy Council” will consist of all departments and agencies involved in the permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation and transportation of all forms of American energy.

“This Council will oversee the path to U.S. energy dominance by cutting red tape, enhancing private sector investments across all sectors of the economy, and by focusing on innovation over longstanding, but totally unnecessary, regulation,” Trump said in the statement on Burgum’s new role.

Burgum’s own brief presidential campaign included energy as one of his key priorities, with the governor saying he wanted to “dramatically increase energy production” in the U.S.

Following the news that Burgum would head up the DOI under the incoming Trump administration, Kierán Suckling, executive director at the Center for Biological Diversity — a legally-focused nonprofit working to protect endangered species — said Burgum would be “disastrous” in the role.

“Burgum will be a disastrous Secretary of the Interior who’ll sacrifice our public lands and endangered wildlife on the altar of the fossil fuel industry’s profits,” Suckling claimed.

His home state of North Dakota is the third largest provider of crude oil in the nation and has the third largest reserves, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The state also relies heavily on coal-fired power plants, which provide 55% of its electricity, though the state also has a sizable wind energy footprint with 36% of power coming from wind energy, according to the EIA.

Department of Energy

Trump has not yet named his pick for the Department of Energy, which is responsible for administering national energy policy, funding energy research and managing the U.S. nuclear infrastructure.

One of DOE’s key projects this year has been a study on the climate impacts of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) after the department announced a pause on LNG export project approvals.

The production of LNG has boomed during both the Biden administration and Trump’s first term. As of 2023, the U.S. is the world’s leading exporter of LNG, according to the EIA.

On Friday, House Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee released a letter calling for current DOE Secretary Jennifer Granholm to lift the pause, saying the study aims to, “hamstring the incoming Presidential administration.”

“The results of the 2024 presidential election are clear, and DOE leadership will soon change,” the representatives wrote. “As a traditional part of the peaceful transfer of power, DOE should immediately stop work on any plans to expand the scope of review or add new conditions to LNG export licenses. DOE should immediately lift the ban on LNG export approvals in compliance with the NGA and the District Court order.”