EPA administrator announced plans to recoup $20 billion in climate funds approved by the Biden administration

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced plans to recoup $20 billion in climate funds that he said the Biden administration approved in the final months in office.

Using the iconic Titanic ship as a reference, Zeldin claimed that the Democratic administration began wasting taxpayer money as if it were "gold bars" that needed to be thrown to the bottom of the sea.

"Two months ago featuring a Biden EPA political appointee talking about how they were tossing gold bars off the Titanic, rushing to get billions of your tax dollars out the door before Inauguration Day," Zeldin said in a video on X. “The gold bars were tax dollars, and tossing them off the Titanic meant the Biden administration knew they were wasting it."

Zeldin, then, assured his staff that his team found these awarded funds and are on recovery plans.

"Fortunately, my awesome team at EPA has found the gold bars. Shockingly, roughly $20 billion of your tax dollars were parked at an outside financial institution by the Biden EPA," Zeldin claimed.

"This scheme was the first of its kind in EPA history, and it was purposefully designed to obligate all of the money in a rush job with reduced oversight," he continued. "Even further, this pot of $20 billion was awarded to just eight entities that were then responsible for doling out your money to NGOs and others at their discretion with far less transparency. Just under $7 billion was sent to one entity called the Climate United Fund."

According to the fund administrator there is, at this time, no reason to suspect banking irregularities in the transaction, but he will push for all the money to be returned.

"Here's my position as EPA administrator. The financial agent agreement with the bank needs to be instantly terminated, and the bank must immediately return all of the gold bars that the Biden administration tossed off the Titanic. EPA needs to reassume responsibility for all of these funds. We will review every penny that has gone out the door," Zeldin said.

He added: "I will be referring this matter to the Inspector General's office, and we'll work with the Justice Department as well. The days of irresponsibly shoveling boatloads of cash to far-left activist groups in the name of environmental justice and climate equity are over."

According to a report from the Washington Post, last year the Biden administration handed out these funds to finance clean energy projects across the U.S., making it "one of the largest investments" by the Biden administration "in fighting climate change and reducing pollution in disadvantaged communities."

The funds came from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, created under the controversial Inflation Reduction Act.