President Trump claimed earlier this month that his administration’s deregulation initiatives had already saved $180 billion and put thousands of dollars in the pockets of every family. Trump directed federal agencies to review, rescind or modify regulations deemed unconstitutional, burdensome or contrary to the national interest, and required them to eliminate 10 existing rules for every new regulation. The regulations that should be on the chopping block, Trump indicated, “impose significant costs upon private parties that are not outweighed by public benefits.”

A few days later, Lee Zeldin, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, boasted that his 31 initiatives constituted “the greatest day of deregulation our nation has seen,” saving Americans trillions of dollars in “costs and hidden taxes.” Echoing Trump, Zeldin singled out directives designed to “drive a dagger straight into the heart of climate change religion” and Biden administration efforts to “throttle the oil and gas industry.” The EPA, Zeldin promised, would reduce “the cost of living for American families, unleash American energy, bring auto jobs back to the U.S. and more.”

Notable for its absence, in an administration that publicly bemoans government policies that distort free-market capitalism, was any mention of eliminating or even reducing subsidies to fossil fuel........

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