As we reported, President-elect Trump's new team will include a former Republican congressman

to head the Environmental Protection Agency. William Brangham takes a closer look at the stakes

for energy, environment, and the climate.

Now, that nominee is former representative Lee Zilden of Long Island, New York, and he has long

been a staunch Trump ally.

Trump has called climate change a scam and has argued that addressing it hurts American

business and consumers. This, of course, comes as scientists say that 2024 will likely be

the hottest year in recorded history. To understand what this means for the country and for the climate,

we are joined again by Coral Davenport of the New York Times.

Coral, so nice to see you again.

Zeldin was, I think, as your reporting showed,

a somewhat unusual pick.

He's not someone that has shown a lot of interest or expertise in the climate.

But one of the major initiatives we know he will likely undertake is what

Donald Trump has said all along that he wants to undo Biden's signature environmental law,

the Inflation Reduction Act, which plowed hundreds of billions of dollars into this green

energy transition. If Trump has the Senate and likely the House, how likely is it that Lee Zeldon and

Trump will be able to undo that act? So it's interesting. President-elect Trump has been

really clear. He wants to undo or repeal the IRA, as you said, Biden's signature climate law,

historic climate law. But that's not something

that can be done with executive authority. The president can't just say make the law go away.

He will need both chambers of Congress. And even then, you know, even with the Republican

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