FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 18, 2025
CONTACT: Report authors are available to answer media questions. To arrange an interview, please direct media inquiries to shannanlenke.stoll@envirodatagov.org.
EPA Communications Under Zeldin Politicized, Report Shows
December 18, 2025 – Public communications issued by the current EPA’s press office are becoming more politicized, according to a new analysis issued by the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative. The report examines political gaslighting in the early messaging of both Administrator Lee Zeldin’s public communications as well as those directly from his EPA’s press office.
A key finding shows that the EPA press office’s messaging stokes political division particularly by deriding previous administrations. In fact, during the initial five months of the current administration, the EPA press office issued more releases referring to a previous president than under any of the three previous administrations. The report also shows communications replete with contradictions as well as misleading and false statements.
“The term ‘gaslighting’ is thrown around a lot today when referring to President Trump,” says lead author Elizabeth Blum. “But our analysis shows that, according to academic definitions of the term, Trump and Zeldin’s EPA are truly engaged in gaslighting the American public.”
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