EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin pushed back against CNN host Kasie Hunt on Sunday’s State of the Union, saying the images she used in her opening had “nothing to do” with the Trump administration’s latest climate policy shift.
The EPA announced Tuesday it would formally repeal the 2009 Obama-era Endangerment Finding, which gave the agency authority to regulate greenhouse gases. In her opening monologue, Hunt criticized the move while showing footage of power plants with smoke billowing into the sky—prompting Zeldin to call out the misleading imagery.
Hunt asked if Zeldin accepted the “overwhelming scientific consensus that these greenhouse gas emissions are the biggest drivers of man-made climate change.”
“Well, it’s great to be on with you. First, it’s worth pointing out that all eight or so images that you just posted on the screen have nothing to do with this week’s announcement,” Zeldin responded. “What the 2009 endangerment finding had to do with was with regards to mobile sources vehicles.”
“This week’s proposal to rescind the 2009 endangerment finding was with regards to mobile sources vehicles. CNN’s been using a lot of photos where they show smokestacks of stationary sources like power plants. That’s not what we proposed,” Zeldin continued. “Now going back to 2009, the science that they were reviewing included both optimistic to pessimistic scenarios. To reach the 2009 endangerment finding, they relied on the most pessimistic views of the science.”
Zeldin went on to state that “a lot” of the assumed “pessimistic views of the science in 2009” did not end up “panning out,” pointing to how the EPA can now ultimately “rely on 2025 facts as opposed to 2009 bad assumptions.”
Watch the clip below:
WATCH: EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin just completely OBLITERATED CNN's running propaganda. 😂
CNN: "Thank you so much for being here….Do you accept the overwhelming scientific consensus that these greenhouse gas emissions are the biggest drivers of man made climate change?"… pic.twitter.com/S6y8uecwN7
— DeVory Darkins (@devorydarkins) August 3, 2025
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