In the News

Jeremy Symons, Senior Adviser to EPN, was quoted in NBC News about EPA putting almost 170 environmental justice staff on administrative leave and the worrisome trajectory that Lee Zeldin has in store.

Judith Enck and Heather McTeer Toney co-wrote an op-ed in The Hill about the houses burned in the Los Angeles wildfires and the burned plastic that will leave toxic pollution in the drinking water, air, and soil for generations.

Michelle Roos was also quoted in Planet Detroit about how the federal funding freeze is affecting a wide range of major grants implementation and how there has been a shift in how environmental justice is being carried out this term compared to Trump’s first term.

Michelle Roos was quoted in Inside EPA about the Trump administration not complying with a temporary restraining order against withholding federal funding and the implications it has had on community projects across the country.

Matt Tejada, former Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, was quoted in Politico about the environmental justice staff put on leave saying that “Without them, communities will face increased levels of toxic pollution, another generation of children drinking lead contaminated water, and the persistent damage to our nation’s health and wealth.”

Jeremy Symons, Senior Adviser to EPN, and Judith Enck, former Regional Administrator, EPA Region 2,  was also quoted in The Guardian about EPA’s “5 pillar agenda” under Trump that prioritizes artificial intelligence.

Matt Tejada, former Deputy Assistant Administrator, EPA Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil rights, and Michelle Roos were both quoted in Newsweek about the Trump administration’s move to put 168 EPA environmental justice staffers on administrative leave. The decision will disproportionately affect low-income communities who are already burdened with high levels of pollution.

Mike Koerber, former Deputy Director, EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, was quoted in ProPublica about EPA’s ethylene oxide rule adopted last year and the potential for it to provide much-needed protection for those living near sterilization facilities.

Walter Mugdan, former Deputy Regional Administrator, EPA Region 2 and EPN’s recent media briefing were mentioned in an article by Inside EPA about Trump’s plans to reassign senior career staff to new posts in new offices. 

Betsy Southerland, former Director, Office of Science and Technology, EPA Office of Water, was quoted in The Guardian about congressional Republican efforts to repeal multiple EPA rules via the Congressional Review Act, including the mandate to replace all lead service lines by 2028.

Ronnie Levin, former Senior Scientist, EPA Region 1, was quoted in Newsweek about the challenges of regulating PFAS as a class of chemicals and why industry will continue to create new forms of PFAS if there is no government pressure to seek alternatives.

Michelle Roos was quoted in The New York Times about EPA’s recent announcement to over 1,000 employees that they are on probation and could be fired at any time. Michelle called it “the most chaotic and vindictive transition in the history of the Environmental Protection Agency.”

Michelle Roos was quoted from an EPN press event about the Trump administration’s “deferred resignation” offer and the federal funding freeze that continues to affect grantees and EPA employees. 

EPN partner Jillian Blanchard, Vice President of Climate and Environmental Justice, Lawyers for Good Government, was a speaker at EPN’s media presser and quoted in Inside EPA.

EPN’s media presser was also mentioned in an article by Politico about rapid growth in EPA’s largest union, AFGE. AFGE union representative Marie Owens Powell was a speaker on the presser.

Michelle Roos was quoted in Politico about the federal funding freeze and stop work orders that went out to grantees and EPA employees.

Walter Mugdan, former Deputy Regional Administrator, EPA Region 2, was quoted in Planet Detroit about employees in EPA’s Ann Arbor, MI, office that fear for their jobs after Trump’s Schedule Policy/Career executive order could call for firings of qualified workers and politicize research activities.

Michelle Roos was quoted in Jacobin about the Trump administration scrubbing federal websites of invaluable data and erasing all webpages with the words “climate change” and obstructing science.

Michelle Roos was quoted in Bloomberg Law from an EPN press event about the Trump administration’s “deferred resignation” offer and the federal funding freeze that continues to affect grantees and EPA employees. 

Michelle Roos was quoted in E&E News about the Trump administration’s “deferred resignation” offer and the federal funding freeze that continues to affect grantees and EPA employees.

Tracey Woodruff, former EPA senior scientist and policy advisor in the Office of Policy, was quoted in Politico about anti-abortion groups’ false claims that Mifepristone, an abortion pill, causes harm to the environment. Tracey clarified that pharmaceuticals are in our water supply and enter via industrial farms, not human consumption.

Jeremy Symons, Consultant and Senior Advisor to EPN, was quoted in Inside EPA about the dangers of Russ Vought’s plan for EPA and cites EPN polling data that shows that the American public is in favor of strengthening EPA.

Jeremy Symons, Senior Adviser to EPN, was quoted in High Country News about the approximately $37 billion in EPA grant and program funding that is frozen and the consequences of pausing this funding.

Betsy Southerland, former Director, Office of Science and Technology, EPA Office of Water, was quoted in U.S. Right to Know about the prevalence of nitrate and nitrite contaminated drinking water and how the Trump administration will likely slow down or derail updated assessments for the chemicals.