Trump and Zeldin Detonate the Green Rulebook in Historic EPA Deregulation Sweep

President Donald J. Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin just dropped a regulatory earthquake on Washington.

In what the administration is calling the single largest deregulatory action in United States history, Trump and Zeldin moved to unwind a web of climate rules, emissions mandates, and bureaucratic red tape that conservatives have warned for years were choking American energy, manufacturing, and small business.

This was not a tweak. It was not a pilot program. It was a full scale rollback of rules pushed by unelected regulators who treated the Federal Register like a personal wishlist.

For years, the Environmental Protection Agency ballooned into a climate command center, layering rule upon rule, mandate upon mandate, until power plants shut down, refineries stalled, and families watched utility bills climb. Coal plants were targeted. Natural gas was vilified. Automakers were cornered into electric vehicle quotas that consumers did not ask for and could not afford.

Trump’s move flips the script.

The administration is targeting regulations tied to greenhouse gas standards, power plant rules, vehicle emissions mandates, and permitting obstacles that slowed pipelines and infrastructure. The message is simple. Energy dominance is back. American industry is not the villain. And the EPA will return to its core mission instead of acting as an enforcement arm for climate activism.

Administrator Zeldin framed the action as a restoration of balance. Supporters call it liberation. Critics are already melting down.

Environmental groups are warning of catastrophe. Progressive lawmakers are predicting doom. But working Americans have heard this song before. Every time Washington reins in overreach, the professional outrage class promises the sky will fall. Meanwhile, gas prices drop, factories reopen, and paychecks grow.

Nevadans understand what happens when policy is written by activists instead of engineers. Higher costs. Slower growth. Fragile grids. When regulations pile up, small businesses drown first. Ranchers. Truckers. Contractors. The people who actually build things.

The deregulatory push is expected to streamline permitting, ease compliance burdens, and give states more authority instead of dictating policy from inside the Beltway. It is a philosophical reset as much as a legal one.

Under the previous regulatory regime, agencies often treated carbon itself as a pollutant to be eradicated at any cost. That mindset fueled sweeping rules that reshaped entire industries without a single vote in Congress. Trump’s administration is arguing that if policies this transformative are going to happen, they should go through elected lawmakers, not career regulators.

This is not about abandoning clean air or clean water. It is about rejecting regulatory maximalism. It is about acknowledging that innovation thrives when government sets clear standards and then gets out of the way.

The stakes are enormous.

America is competing with China for industrial supremacy. Artificial intelligence, data centers, semiconductor plants, and defense manufacturing all require massive, reliable energy. Layering endless regulations on domestic producers while adversaries expand unchecked is not climate leadership. It is strategic malpractice.

By launching the largest deregulatory action in U.S. history, Trump and Zeldin are betting that growth, innovation, and American grit can accomplish more than mandates and micromanagement ever could.

Washington’s regulatory machine has been put on notice.

The era of automatic expansion is over. The era of rollback has begun.

Speak Up, Nevada! What’s on Your Mind? Send us your opinion!

Got the inside scoop on something happening in Nevada? Or the country? Do you have thoughts about life in Nevada that are too good to keep to yourself? Whether it’s a hot take on our politics, crime, education, or even the secret to surviving our summers, we’re all ears! Swing them our way at editor@thenevadaglobe.com. Come on, give us the scoop on what makes Nevada tick—or what ticks you off. Let’s make some noise and have some fun with it!