In the News

John Bachmann, EPN member and former Associate Director for Science/Policy and New Programs, EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, was quoted in this article about draft particulate matter standards that are set below levels that some EPA staff recommend to protect public health.

EPN member Janet McCabe, former Acting Assistant Administrator, EPA Office of Air and Radiation, was quoted in this article about proposed rollbacks to methane regulations and energy transportation standards, which could increase greenhouse gas emissions.

Penny Fenner-Crisp, EPN member and former Senior Science Advisor to the Director, EPA Office of Pesticide Programs, was quoted in this article about a recent announcement from EPA Administrator Wheeler about plans to reduce animal testing and eliminate mammal testing by 2035 as alternative methods for chemical and pesticide toxicology continue to develop.

EPN member Betsy Southerland, former Director, Office of Science and Technology, EPA Office of Water, was quoted in this article about health hazards presented by PFAS contamination in waterways and public lands, and the lack of a regulatory response as government agencies wait for more studies.

EPN members Betsy Southerland, former Director, Office of Science and Technology, EPA Office of Water, and Bill Muno, former Superfund Director in Region 5, were quoted in this article about widespread contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and EPA and the military’s failure to clean up these chemicals.

EPN members John Hannon, Assistant General Counsel, Air and Radiation Law Office, Office of General Counsel, and Janet McCabe, former EPA Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation, were quoted in this article about a letter sent by EPA and the Department of Justice to the state of California that claims that it lacks the authority to agree with several automakers on stricter fuel efficiency standards than the level set by the federal government.

EPN member Margo Oge, former Director, EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality, was quoted in this article about an antitrust investigation launched by the Department of Justice into four leading automakers over a deal they cemented with the state of California to maintain fuel efficiency standards at levels higher than proposed by the Trump Administration. This article also ran in The Hour.

EPN member Margo Oge, former Director, EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality, is quoted in this article about the Trump Administration considering a plan to revoke California’s legal authority to set state tailpipe pollution standards that are stricter than federal regulations. A similar article ran in Courthouse News.

EPN member Margo Oge, former Director, EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality, is quoted in this AP article about the Trump administration moving forward with a proposal to revoke part of California’s authority to set its own automobile gas mileage standards. This article also ran in The Washington Post, KPLC, and WCJB.

Mustafa Santiago Ali, EPN member and former EPA Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization, and Assistant Associate Administrator for Environmental Justice, was quoted in this article about the Trump Administration’s attacks on science, from proposed budget cuts at EPA to new regulations that ban qualified scientists from serving on advisory panels.

Janet McCabe, EPN member and former EPA Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation, was interviewed about proposed rollbacks to methane restrictions on the oil and gas industry, which could undermine the legal authority to regulate methane under the Clean Air Act in the future. (Clip starts at 0:45).

EPN member Trish Koman, former Senior Environmental Scientist, Program Manager and Supervisor in EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality, was interviewed in Mirage News about an article she and her co-authors wrote recommending key scientific and risk assessment principles to inform health protective chemical policy. Trish was quoted in similar articles in Chemical Watch, Phys.org and Futurity.

EPN member Curt Spalding, former EPA Regional Administrator for Region 1, wrote an op-ed about algae blooms polluting our waters, and the need need to build a sustainable and resilient water future for all of our communities in New England and across the country.

EPN member Jeff Alson, former EPA Senior Engineer and Policy Advisor, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, is quoted in this article about a group of 200 CEOs of some of the country’s largest companies proposing a revised corporate idea of America in which the purpose of public companies has expanded to consider stakeholders beyond shareholders.

EPN member Jeff Alson, former EPA Senior Engineer and Policy Advisor, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, is quoted in this article about how automakers’ voluntary deal with California could be a model for voluntary environmental initiatives in other sectors, but would not be as protective as federal policies backed by enforcement or oversight.

EPN members Janet McCabe, former EPA Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation, and Joe Goffman, former Associate Assistant Administrator for Climate and Senior Counsel, EPA Office of Air and Radiation, are quoted in this article about the new Trump Administration rule proposal that would allow for weaker monitoring of methane, a major greenhouse gas contributing to global warming. Joe was also quoted in similar articles in Earther, the Associated Press, the Independent, and KQED Science.

EPN member Dan Reich, former Assistant Regional Counsel, EPA Region 9, wrote an op-ed published in The Hill about the lack of enforcement for SEC regulations that requirie the disclosure of climate-related impacts.

EPN member Janet McCabe, former EPA Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation, is quoted in this article about two parallel proposals EPA has put forth that would stop directly regulating methane emissions from the oil and gas industry, drastically cutting controls on the sector’s greenhouse gases. Janet is quoted in a similar article in Bloomberg, Inside Climate News, The Guardian, Gingdu, and interviewed on Cheddar and CBCNews.

EPN member Roy Gamse, former Deputy Assistant Administrator for Planning and Evaluation and Acting Assistant Administrator for Planning and Management, is quoted in this article about scientists pushing back against a Trump Administration proposal that would block EPA from relying on studies that don’t make their underlying data public.

Roy Gamse, former Deputy Assistant Administrator for Planning and Evaluation and Acting Assistant Administrator for Planning and Management, is quoted in this article about the fact that EPA officials still have no clear answers on how fundamental aspects of the proposed censored science rule would work, according to an update recently provided to the Science Advisory Board.

EPN members Dr. Bernard Goldstein, former chair, EPA Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, and former EPA Assistant Administrator for Research and Development, and Roy Gamse, former Deputy Assistant Administrator for Planning and Evaluation and Acting Assistant Administrator for Planning and Management, are quoted in this article about the Science Advisory Board’s role in consulting with EPA on its Censored Science proposal and the serious practical and ethical problems that arise from it.  

EPN member Janet McCabe, former EPA Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation, is quoted in this article about a federal appeals court giving environmentalists a big win with the rejections of industry challenges to Obama-era ozone standards and an order for EPA to take a closer look at one part of the requirements that green groups deemed too lenient.

EPN member Janet McCabe, former EPA Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation, is quoted in S&P Global’s article about the recently released final regional haze guidance that gives states more leeway to weigh the cost of pollution controls against the visibility gains the equipment is expected to produce.

EPN member Betsy Southerland, former Director, Office of Science and Technology, EPA Office of Water, is quoted and interviewed in CNN’s broadcast about Americans’ tap water being contaminated with PFAS or “forever chemicals,” which don’t easily break down in the environment or the human body. The piece also ran on WHNT TV.