1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

I am very concerned about climate and air pollution—especially after the horrific fires in Los Angeles this week and the news today that 2024 was the hottest year on record and that 2023 was the hottest before that. I am asking you and your colleagues to pursue tough questions during the nomination hearing of Lee Zeldin to head the EPA. We all depend on the EPA to protect our air and water from pollution. I am concerned that Lee Zeldin would be a gift to the extremely powerful chemical and fossil fuel industries. His nomination comes at a crucial time, as the plastics and petrochemical industries are preparing an onslaught to shortcut the process of getting chemicals onto the market—and we already are awash in toxic, cancer-causing, and hormone-disrupting chemicals. Lee Zeldin has a disturbing record of voting against critical environmental protections—and he has said that he wants to launch a deregulatory spree. This seems to indicate that he would support corporate polluters and not investigate them. This nomination is not a matter of Republicans versus Democrats. It is a matter of caring about human health and safety and protecting our planet. The nomination of Zeldin is profoundly alarming. Please, please block it and commit to only supporting a nominee who takes climate change and pollution seriously. Thanks.