Staff Reports
In a refreshing twist of fate, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has thrown a wrench in the Biden administration’s bureaucratic machinery. On Wednesday, he unveiled a plan to tackle the colossal backlog of air quality cases that the current administration has left piling up like dirty laundry. Zeldin wasn’t shy about laying the blame squarely where it belongs—on the Biden administration’s obsession with ideological pursuits that deviate from the agency’s core mission of actually cleaning up the air.
Zeldin detailed the staggering reality: under the Biden-Harris banner, the Environmental Protection Agency amassed a staggering 685 unresolved State Implementation Plans (SIPs). Not even a good game of hide and seek could have masked the 322 of those cases that were officially overdue. In sharp contrast to this lackluster record, Zeldin outlined his vision of cooperative federalism and an active partnership with states and tribal governments to cut through the regulatory red tape and finally address air quality issues. The man clearly believes in action, focusing on the 140 million Americans living in nonattainment areas who could breathe a little easier if someone would just get to work.
An SIP, for those who may not have their EPA lingo down, is basically a state’s game plan to meet, maintain, and enforce National Ambient Air Quality Standards, thanks to the Clean Air Act. You would think the Biden administration would be on board with this simple, clear framework, but instead, they preferred to play their favorite game: “Who Can Ignore Air Quality the Longest?” The previous team apparently felt that as long as they were busy spinning their wheels on political ideologies, air quality could wait—obviously a breathtakingly poor strategy.
"Exclusive — EPA Chief Lee Zeldin Moves to Clear Massive Biden-Era Agency Backlog to Improve Air Quality Faster" https://t.co/InBjm7A6xV
— John Lichtenberger (@AdvertisingLaw) March 13, 2025
In a surprising act of reason, Zeldin indicated the newly revived EPA would not just be making noise; it would actually work *with* state governments and tribes to protect air quality while supporting economic growth. Imagine that! An agency that actually recognizes that one can breathe clean air while simultaneously fueling the economic engine, focusing on high-tech sectors like semiconductor fabrication and artificial intelligence. Who would have thought clean air could be conducive to innovation and job creation?
This initiative, dubbed “Powering the Great American Comeback,” boasts five main pillars, pinpointing clean air, energy independence, and the revitalization of American jobs, particularly in tech and manufacturing. It’s astonishing what can be accomplished when an administration actually prioritizes the health of the nation’s air over blanketing the regulatory landscape in red tape. Looking ahead, the real takeaway here is that perhaps, just perhaps, logic and sensibility are making a comeback, much like America itself.
