EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin was paid last year to write an opinion piece critical of sustainable investing strategies by a firm tied to investment company BlackRock.
In financial disclosure paperwork, Zeldin said he was paid $10,000 to write an op-ed in Newsday on Aug. 10, 2024. That date aligns with a piece under his byline that sought to take pressure off of asset managers like BlackRock and State Street for environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing that Republicans are highly critical of.
But while Zeldin said he was paid by public relations firm DCI Group for the op-ed, documents reviewed by POLITICO’s E&E News link the piece to BlackRock. The documents were obtained by Fieldnotes, an investigative news outlet focused on the fossil fuel industry.
Days after the op-ed was published, an attorney with the Orrick law firm emailed it to Amie Ely, an official in Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s (R) office. The attorney, Andrew Cook, said he was emailing on BlackRock’s behalf.
