The Environmental Protection Agency is shutting down its climate-themed museum near the White House after it cost millions to build and failed to attract the public. Administrator Lee Zeldin says it’s part of a larger effort to eliminate waste and return the agency to its core mission.
Key Facts:
- The EPA’s National Environmental Museum and Education Center opened in May 2024 in Washington, D.C.
- It cost taxpayers $4 million to build and over $600,000 per year to operate.
- Fewer than 2,000 external visitors attended in its first nine months—amounting to $315 per visitor.
- EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the museum’s closure in March 2025.
- Zeldin, aligned with the Trump administration, has cut over $20 billion in Biden-era climate and energy grants.
The Rest of The Story:
The National Environmental Museum and Education Center, created under the Biden administration, was promoted as a showcase of the EPA’s history and climate initiatives.
Despite being free to enter and located just blocks from the White House, it failed to attract even modest public interest.
Most of its content focused heavily on recent Democrat-led environmental programs, with a noticeable gap in recognition for Republican contributions or bipartisan progress.
According to Zeldin’s EPA, the museum leaned into politically charged themes like “environmental justice” and climate change fear, rather than the agency’s traditional responsibilities—air, land, and water protection.
The museum’s hefty annual operating costs, including over $200,000 for two security guards and $123,000 in utility bills, raised eyebrows even before its dismal attendance numbers were reported.
The Biden Admin spent $4M in tax dollars on a museum to tell a selective story of @EPA history. It costs $600K per year to operate even though only 1,909 external visitors came through in the last 9 months. Today we are closing it. pic.twitter.com/ghTQ2MQX4N
— Lee Zeldin (@epaleezeldin) March 31, 2025
Commentary:
The decision to shut down this museum is a win for American taxpayers.
Spending $4 million to build a self-congratulatory facility, followed by $600,000 annually to keep it running, is the definition of government waste.
Especially for an agency meant to serve the public good, not glorify its own bureaucrats.
It’s no surprise the museum saw just 1,909 outside visitors in nearly a year.
Most Americans never heard of it—and those who did likely saw through its climate-agenda messaging.
Instead of educating the public in a balanced way, it became another megaphone for the radical left’s version of environmentalism.
Under the Biden administration, the EPA often seemed more focused on lecturing Americans about climate change and regulating dishwashers than cleaning up toxic waste sites or improving air and water quality in underserved communities.
While real environmental protection is essential, the agency’s mission was twisted into something political and elitist.
Building a high-end museum to celebrate themselves, in Smithsonian fashion, shows how out of touch the leadership had become.
If they wanted to teach the public about the environment, they could’ve started by producing better results in the field—not by constructing a monument to bureaucracy.
Administrator Zeldin’s move to shut it down sends the right message.
Americans are tired of being forced to bankroll political vanity projects while real problems go ignored.
The money saved should be put toward the EPA’s original purpose: protecting the environment in ways that are effective, transparent, and apolitical.
The Bottom Line:
The EPA’s museum closure under Lee Zeldin reflects a broader effort to cut wasteful government spending and return the agency to its core responsibilities.
With just 2,000 visitors and millions spent, it became a symbol of bureaucratic excess.
Ending this failed project is a small but meaningful step toward smarter, more responsible government.
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