In the News

Betsy Southerland, EPN member and former Director, EPA Office of Science and Technology in the Office of Water, was quoted in this article about a recent EPA rule that lifts a requirement for companies and utilities to prove that coal ash deposits of a certain size wouldn’t cause environmental damage.

Mustafa Santiago Ali, EPN member, former EPA Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization, and Assistant Associate Administrator for Environmental Justice, was quoted in this article about President Trump’s comments attacking Baltimore for its pollution while the administration continues to roll back regulations on the coal industry.

Margo Oge, EPN member and former EPA Director, EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality, wrote this op-ed about a recent agreement between California and several major automakers to raise fuel efficiency standards following industry opposition to the Trump Administration’s rollback of an Obama-era clean car program.

EPN member Trish Koman, former Senior Environmental Scientist, Program Manager and Supervisor in EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality, was quoted in this article about emissions from school buses and their disproportionate impact on sensitive populations such as young children.

Karen Heisler, EPN member and EPA Region 9 alum, was interviewed by former EPA Region 9 Regional Administrator, Jared Blumenfeld, currently serving as California’s Secretary for Environmental Protection, in this podcast episode about Karen’s EPA experience with California’s agriculture sector and her sustainable pie business that is closing its doors.

EPN member Janet McCabe, former EPA Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation, was quoted in this article about Indiana’s lead exposure issues and a recent petition urging the state health agency to lower its threshold triggering aid for children suffering from lead poisoning.

EPN members Stan Meiburg, former EPA Deputy Regional Administrator in Region 4 and Region 6 and former Acting Deputy Administrator, and Joe Goffman, former Associate Assistant Administrator for Climate and Senior Counsel, EPA Office of Air and Radiation, were quoted in this article about a labor dispute between EPA and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) over a new contract that the agency unilaterally implemented in July without the union’s consent.

EPN members Penny Fenner-Crisp, former Senior Science Advisor to the Director, EPA Office of Pesticide Programs, and Bernard Goldstein, former chair, EPA Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, and former EPA Assistant Administrator for Research and Development, were quoted in this article about the rushed and haphazard process EPA used to develop its updates to the carcinogen and non-cancer risk assessment guidelines, sidelining the scientific input of two advisory committees.

EPN member John Bachmann, former Associate Director for Science/Policy and New Programs, EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, was quoted in this article about EPA’s refusal to reinstate the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel despite objections from the Committee’s members regarding their ability to adequately review federal soot standards without its expertise.

Christopher Zarba, EPN member and former Director, EPA Science Advisory Board, was quoted in this article about efforts by the Trump Administration to sideline, marginalize, and otherwise prevent government scientists and experts from researching climate change.

Jeffry Fowley, EPN member and former EPA Region 1 Attorney, was quoted in this article about state lawmakers calling for the Minnesotan governor to suspend permits for a proposed copper-nickel mine following controversies surrounding wastewater.

EPN members Lynn Goldman, former EPA Assistant Administrator for Toxic Substances, Bernard Goldstein, former chair, EPA Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, and former EPA Assistant Administrator for Research and Development, and Bob Perciasepe, former EPA Deputy Administrator, were mentioned in this article about an EPA directive that bars recipients of EPA grants from serving on its advisory committees, which prevents some of the most qualified scientists from providing input.

EPN member Stan Meiburg, former EPA Deputy Regional Administrator in Region 4 and Region 6 and Acting Deputy Administrator, was quoted in this article about a recent memorandum of understanding between EPA and a conservative-leaning environmental non-profit and the implications of such an explicit relationship with a partisan organization.

EPN member Christopher Zarba, former Director, EPA Science Advisory Board, was quoted in this article about the seven members who help shape the Trump Administration’s changes on ozone, particulate matter and other pollutants on the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC).

EPN member Dan Reich, former Assistant Regional Counsel, EPA Region 9, wrote this op-ed about several ways that government agencies can take action on climate change without congressional approval, from requiring NEPA-approved projects to include measures that reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) to requiring agribusinesses to report methane emissions from cattle during digestion.

EPN member Tom Burke, former EPA Science Advisor and Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Research and Development (ORD), was quoted in this article about sweeping changes at EPA that are sidelining scientific expertise and damaging the integrity of the agency’s advisory committees.

EPN member Joel Mintz, former EPA Enforcement and Supervisory Attorney, wrote this op-ed about the rise and potential decline of anti-regulatory conservatism, focusing on a 1971 memo that encouraged business leaders to enter the political arena and resist regulatory initiatives.

Joe Goffman, EPN member and former Associate Assistant Administrator for Climate and Senior Counsel, EPA Office of Air and Radiation, was quoted in this article about a Senate probe into potential ethics violations by an ex-Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation in a meeting with former law firm colleagues.

EPN members Dan Costa, former National Program Director, EPA Air, Climate, and Energy Research Program, and Mustafa Santiago Ali, former EPA Senior Advisor and Assistant Associate Administrator for Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization, were quoted in this article about growing restrictions and procedures governing interactions between government scientists and reporters; however, a recent Congressional bill aims to make contacting experts much easier.

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 a recent Congressional bill that aims to transition the country towards clean energy while creating numerous well-paying jobs along the way.

Joel Mintz, EPN member and former EPA Enforcement and Supervisory Attorney, wrote this op-ed about President Trump’s speech on environmental leadership, focusing on the abundant contradictions between the administration’s deregulatory agenda and the president’s supposed commitment to sustainability.

EPN member Tom Burke, former EPA Science Advisor and former Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Research and Development, was quoted in this article about Administrator Wheeler’s silence on a request from the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) to reconstitute a recently-abolished panel on particulate matter and the effects this will have on CASAC’s ability to properly review air quality standards.

Tom Burke, EPN member, former EPA Science Advisor and former Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Research and Development, was quoted in this article about his testimony at a Congressional hearing on the Trump Administration’s attacks on science, from barring scientists with EPA grants from serving on its advisory boards to a recent executive order requiring agencies to slash at least one-third of all eligible advisory committees. Similar articles ran in E&E and Courthouse News Service.

Tom Burke, EPN member and former EPA Science Advisor, and former Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Research and Development, was quoted in this article about toxic waste and contaminants dislodged during natural disasters, which is becoming an increasingly important concern given the severity of extreme weather events due to climate change and the lack of clean-up resources after a community is hit by such an event.