WASHINGTON -- Former Long Island congressman Lee Zeldin denied that he will favor industry over the environment and declared he thinks climate change is real as he faced questions Thursday on his nomination to be the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Trump's EPA administrator-nominee took at-times pointed questions from several liberal Democratic senators during his confirmation hearing Thursday.

I believe that climate change is real," Lee Zeldin told senators on the Environment and Public Works Committee. He added that environmental policies should not hamper economic growth.

Former New York Republican Congressman and Republican nominee for governor Lee Zeldin testified at his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday. President-elect Trump has nominated Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. In his opening remarks, Zeldin expressed a commitment to protecting the economy and leaving the world a better place.

Lee Zeldin highlighted his plan to balance environmental and economic concerns and said working on PFAS passive receiver issues would be on his to-do list if he is confirmed.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday said he believes climate change is real and a threat but that the agency he is poised to oversee is just authorized,

Zeldin will appear Thursday before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works for his confirmation hearing to be the next administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Donald Trump's pick to lead the Interior Department, Doug Burgum, said on Thursday he will vigorously pursue the

Lee Zeldin, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, is promising to preserve a clean environment "without suffocating the economy."

President-elect Trump’s nominee for Interior secretary, sat for a largely cordial hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday. While some Democratic members of the panel questioned Burgum on the incoming administration’s climate policies,

Lee Zeldin said Americans deserve a clean environment “without suffocating the economy” during his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, a department likely to play a central role in President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to slash federal regulations and promote oil and gas development.