"Lee Zeldin, the agency administrator, will address a Heartland Institute forum in April. The organization says speakers will challenge the climate crisis “narrative.”"

"Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, will be the opening speaker at a conference next month sponsored by the Heartland Institute, a group that rejects the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change, the organization has announced.

President Trump routinely mocks climate change as a “hoax” and his administration has rolled back protections for air and water, and has tried to give up the power to regulate greenhouse gases. Yet scientists and one former Republican E.P.A. administrator still expressed alarm at the idea of the nation’s chief environmental official speaking at an event for a research organization that argues there is “no such thing” as climate-driven floods, hurricanes and extreme heat.

The speech, critics said, risks bestowing the credibility of the federal government on the fringe theories that the group espouses.

“The choices that an administrator makes, where to go and who to talk to, is very significant,” said William K. Reilly, who served as administrator of the E.P.A. under the first President George Bush."

Lisa Friedman reports for the New York Times March 20, 2026. [2]