"Zeldin Claims Media Ignored ‘Evidence’ Against Climate Groups"

"The EPA administrator expressed frustration with reporters and a judge who have pointed to the agency’s unsupported claims of fraud in a climate program."

"EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin excoriated news outlets Monday for reporting that EPA hasn’t offered evidence to support his assertions that billions of dollars in climate grants are marked by waste, fraud and abuse.

“There are some members of the media who have dug in further into saying that ‘there’s no evidence,’” he told reporters Monday. “Every time a new piece of evidence comes out, there’s some in the media saying, even with more conviction, that there’s no evidence.”

Zeldin has claimed for two months in social media posts and in press appearances that $20 billion in programs within the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund — which was authorized in 2022 to expand lending for renewable energy and zero-carbon buildings and transportation — is so riddled with graft that the only remedy is for the government to cancel the grants and take the money back. But a federal judge handling the case has criticized the agency for failing to cite any evidence of wrongdoing by the grantees administering the program."

Jean Chemnick reports for E&E News April 22, 2025.

Source: E&E News, 04/23/2025