Trump’s EPA chief Zeldin gives keynote speech at climate-denying group’s event

<p>Lee Zeldin opens conference for Heartland Institute, which once compared climate advocates to the Unabomber</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2026/feb/17/sign-up-for-the-breaking-news-us-email-to-get-newsletter-alerts-direct-to-your-inbox?utm_medium=ACQUISITIONS_STANDFIRST&utm_campaign=BN22326&utm_content=signup&utm_term=standfirst&utm_source=GUARDIAN_WEB">Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox</a></p></li></ul><p>Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), gave the keynote speech at a conference on Wednesday morning, one which was hosted by a prominent climate-denying thinktank that previously compared those concerned about the climate crisis <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2012/may/04/heartland-institute-global-warming-murder">to the Unabomber</a> on billboard posters in 2012.</p><p>“No longer are we going to rely on bad, flawed assumptions instead of accurate, present-day facts, without apology or regret,” Zeldin said at the Heartland Institute’s conference on climate change in Washington DC, referring to well-established climate science.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/08/epa-chief-zeldin-climate-denying-group-event">Continue reading...</a>