Rising energy costs are putting pressure on households and businesses, even as U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Lee Zeldin insists the government has found a way to protect both the environment and the economy.
Speaking in San Antonio at the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, Zeldin said the current administration is rejecting the long-standing idea that economic growth and environmental protection must come at odds.
“You don’t have to choose between one or the other,” Zeldin said. “We reject that notion.”
His remarks come at a time when energy prices are climbing sharply. New data shows overall energy costs rose by 10.9% between February and March, with gasoline prices alone jumping by 21.2% in just one month. The spike coincides with the early phase of the ongoing U.S. war in Iran, which has added fresh pressure to global energy markets.
At the center of Zeldin’s argument is a proposed rollback of an environmental rule introduced under Joe Biden. The regulation, tied to the Clean Air Act, had limited routine gas flaring—a process where excess natural gas is burned off during oil drilling.
The new proposal would allow companies to flare gas for up to 72 hours instead of the previous 24-hour limit, with additional allowances during bad weather. Zeldin claims the change could save the energy industry about $2.5 billion over 15 years, arguing those savings may help ease fuel costs.
Industry observers, however, say the impact on everyday consumers may not be so direct.
“It probably doesn’t have much impact in terms of the general public,” said Loren Steffy, a longtime journalist covering Texas energy.
While the EPA suggests cost reductions could trickle down, recent inflation figures paint a more complicated picture. Overall inflation rose 0.9% in March—the largest monthly increase since mid-2022, according to data shared by economist Heather Long.
That data quickly became part of a political back-and-forth. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer highlighted the inflation trend online, prompting Zeldin to push back.
“If 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,” Zeldin said. “It’s 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.”
Still, analysts warn the current situation may be unusual in its scale and speed.
“In a lot of ways, we’re in unprecedented territory,” Steffy said. “To see this big of an increase — and to see it in both oil and natural gas — is really not something we’ve ever seen, certainly not in our lifetimes.”
Interestingly, the surge in energy costs has not yet spread evenly across the wider economy. Food prices have remained mostly stable, with grocery costs slightly declining in the same period. But experts caution that this could change soon.
“There’s always a lag effect,” said Andrew Coppin, whose company helps ranchers cut fuel costs through automation.
“People in business, if they see some short-term issue within the supply chain, they’d prefer to try and manage it and not impose on the consumer if they can help it,” he said. “But obviously the longer it goes on and the more sustained it is, the more challenging that is because you’re 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.”
With energy prices rising and policy changes underway, the coming months may determine whether cost relief reaches consumers—or if higher prices become the new normal.
