{"id":15662,"date":"2026-04-11T14:00:42","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T06:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15662"},"modified":"2026-04-11T14:00:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T06:00:47","slug":"epa-administrator-talks-energy-affordability-amidst-energy-costs-skyrocketing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15662","title":{"rendered":"EPA Administrator talks energy affordability amidst energy costs skyrocketing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

AUSTIN (Nexstar) \u2014 To open his media remarks at the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin expressed his gratitude to get away from Washington D.C. to \u201callow the residents of the San Antonio area to very conveniently be able to raise their concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His main message \u2014 the Trump administration has solved the balance between protecting the environment without burdening the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to choose between one or the other,\u201d Zeldin said. \u201cWe reject that notion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zeldin\u2019s most recent example, a proposed walkback of a Joe Biden-era rule intended to limit pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of the Clean Air Act, the EPA previously phased out routine \u2018flaring\u2019 except in 24-hour windows for maintenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBasically flaring is when you have excess natural gas at the wellhead and you don\u2019t have any way to get rid of it,\u201d Loren Steffy, a journalist who\u2019s written about the Texas oil and gas industry for years, said. \u201cIf you\u2019re drilling for oil, you usually hit natural gas as well\u2026 and if you don\u2019t have equipment to capture that gas and process it, then it\u2019s usually burned off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EPA\u2019s proposed change would extend the flaring window to 72 hours, with extensions for inclement weather. Zeldin estimates this will save the industry $2.5 billion over the next 15 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn and of itself, this rule is very technical and it\u2019s really very industry specific,\u201d Steffy said. \u201cIt probably doesn\u2019t have much impact in terms of the general public.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Zeldin\u2019s press release said \u201cthese cost savings will help lower gasoline and energy costs across the board,\u201d Friday\u2019s inflation numbers told a different story. Overall inflation went up 0.9% from February to March, the first full month of the U.S. war in Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The impacts on energy prices were staggering. Overall, energy prices went up 10.9% from February to March \u2014 with gas prices increasing by 21.2% month-over-month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked, Zeldin tried to contextualize the inflation data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSen. (Chuck) Schumer (D, NY) posted on social media a chart of the last decade or so of inflation, and I\u2019m not sure he realized who and what he was actually owning by posting that chart,\u201d Zeldin said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the referenced post, Schumer shared a graph posted by Navy Federal\u2019s Chief Economist Heather Long. The graph shows inflation from 2019 to the present, with a large spike in the middle of the Biden administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her post, Long said \u201cinflation in March alone rose 0.9%. That\u2019s the biggest one-month jump since June 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you look at a period of a few years of the last administration, the height of that chart was many, many magnitudes higher than where it is right now,\u201d Zeldin said. \u201cIt\u2019s just important to be honest with the American public and the fact is we went through a few years where people were struggling with massively high increases in inflation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Steffy thinks this case is unique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn a lot of ways, we\u2019re in unprecedented territory,\u201d he said. \u201cTo see this big of an increase \u2014 and to see it in both oil and natural gas \u2014 is really not something we\u2019ve ever seen, certainly not in our lifetimes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somewhat surprisingly, the sharp rise in energy prices did not transfer to the rest of the economy. Food prices remained stable month-over-month, with groceries prices even slightly dipping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, that\u2019s unlikely to last long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always a lag effect,\u201d Ranchbot CEO Andrew Coppin said. Coppin\u2019s company works with ranchers to set up automated management systems on their land. He says this service can save ranchers 30-40% on fuel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople in business, if they see some short-term issue within the supply chain, they\u2019d prefer to try and manage it and not impose on the consumer if they can help it,\u201d he said. \u201cBut obviously the longer it goes on and the more sustained it is, the more challenging that is because you\u2019re eroding your own margin. At the end of the day, businesses have a duty to their own shareholders and their own staff and their own stakeholder to make sure that they maintain it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN (Nexstar) \u2014 To open his media remarks at the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin expressed his gratitude to get away from Washington D.C. to \u201callow the residents of the San Antonio area to very conveniently be able to raise their concerns.\u201d His main message \u2014 the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":15663,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[2429,4073,4072],"class_list":["post-15662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-energy","tag-gas","tag-zeldin"],"yoast_head":"\nEPA Administrator talks energy affordability amidst energy costs skyrocketing - LISTEN WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15662\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EPA Administrator talks energy affordability amidst energy costs skyrocketing - LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"AUSTIN (Nexstar) \u2014 To open his media remarks at the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin expressed his gratitude to get away from Washington D.C. to \u201callow the residents of the San Antonio area to very conveniently be able to raise their concerns.\u201d His main message \u2014 the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15662\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-11T06:00:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-11T06:00:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"611\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"340\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darcy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/\",\"name\":\"LISTEN WORLD\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15662#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2-1.jpg\",\"width\":611,\"height\":340},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15662#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15662\",\"name\":\"EPA Administrator talks energy affordability amidst energy costs skyrocketing - LISTEN WORLD\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15662#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-11T06:00:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-11T06:00:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/1162f45aa51c894eefc48fd30308af4a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15662#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15662\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15662#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u9996\u9875\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"EPA Administrator talks energy affordability amidst energy costs skyrocketing\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/1162f45aa51c894eefc48fd30308af4a\",\"name\":\"Darcy\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7537ee6b8d37bad39b4bef536dfdfbabb0d66d9d304b0d853fc389e9f7bc082f?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7537ee6b8d37bad39b4bef536dfdfbabb0d66d9d304b0d853fc389e9f7bc082f?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Darcy\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?author=6\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"EPA Administrator talks energy affordability amidst energy costs skyrocketing - LISTEN WORLD","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15662","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"EPA Administrator talks energy affordability amidst energy costs skyrocketing - LISTEN WORLD","og_description":"AUSTIN (Nexstar) \u2014 To open his media remarks at the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin expressed his gratitude to get away from Washington D.C. to \u201callow the residents of the San Antonio area to very conveniently be able to raise their concerns.\u201d His main message \u2014 the […]","og_url":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15662","og_site_name":"LISTEN WORLD","article_published_time":"2026-04-11T06:00:42+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-11T06:00:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":611,"height":340,"url":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Darcy","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/","name":"LISTEN WORLD","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15662#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2-1.jpg","width":611,"height":340},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15662#webpage","url":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15662","name":"EPA Administrator talks energy affordability amidst energy costs skyrocketing - LISTEN WORLD","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15662#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2026-04-11T06:00:42+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-11T06:00:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/1162f45aa51c894eefc48fd30308af4a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15662#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15662"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15662#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u9996\u9875","item":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"EPA Administrator talks energy affordability amidst energy costs skyrocketing"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/1162f45aa51c894eefc48fd30308af4a","name":"Darcy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7537ee6b8d37bad39b4bef536dfdfbabb0d66d9d304b0d853fc389e9f7bc082f?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7537ee6b8d37bad39b4bef536dfdfbabb0d66d9d304b0d853fc389e9f7bc082f?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g","caption":"Darcy"},"url":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?author=6"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15662"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15664,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15662\/revisions\/15664"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}