In the News

EPN members John Bachmann and Janet McCabe are quoted in this article about the Clean Power Plan rollback and proposal to change cost-benefit analysis at the EPA.

Margo Oge, former Director of the EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality and EPN member, describes the dangerous and lasting impacts of the administration’s proposed roll back of fuel economy standards.

EPN member and Professor of Law Emeritus Joel Mintz warns that Andrew Wheeler is equally as committed to regulatory rollbacks as Pruitt and is likely to be more successful with their implementation.

EPN members Steve Silverman and Janet McCabe are quoted about differences between Scott Pruitt and Andrew Wheeler. They discuss how Wheeler’s background in science and previous Washington experience will show in his behavior.

Lynn Goldman, EPN member and former EPA Assistant Administrator for Toxic Substances, wrote about her concerns regarding the proposed “censored science” rule. She emphasizes three protections that, if removed, would put public health at risk.

EPN member and Professor of Law Emeritus Joel Mintz warns that based on his writings and votes, Judge Brett Kavanaugh could seriously curtail environmental protections if confirmed to sit on the Supreme Court.

EPN members Dan Costa and Christopher Zarba are interviewed about the changes in daily life for scientists at the EPA brought on by Scott Pruitt’s administration. He and other EPA employees reflect on the uncertainty and staff perseverance during the first 18 months under Pruitt.

EPN is quoted in this article on the detrimental effects the proposed Science Transparency rule would have on the EPA’s ability to use the most current science available when making regulatory decisions.

Stan Meiburg, EPN Board member and Advisor, former EPA Deputy Regional Administrator in Regions 4 (Atlanta) and 6 (Dallas), and former EPA Acting Deputy Administrator, spoke to WYPR public radio on the question of Wheeler’s limited recusal from his past lobbying interests.

The exciting appointment of Michelle Roos as EPN’s first full-time executive director was covered in this widely read online publication. Congratulations, Michelle!

EPN Executive Director Michelle Roos and her co-author focus on how their polluted childhood hometown of Pittsburgh was transformed into a clean and thriving city thanks to environmental and public health protections once ensured by EPA.

Chris Zarba, EPN member who retired in February as head of EPA’s Science Advisory Board is interviewed about the damage to EPA programs and policies on Scott Pruitt’s watch. He is joined by Mustafa Ali, former director of EPA’s environmental Justice Program, who describes the rollback of protections for vulnerable communities imposed by the Pruitt administration.

EPN Advisory Council Co-Chair and former EPA Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe and Stan Meiburg, EPN Board member and Advisor, former EPA Deputy Regional Administrator in Regions 4 (Atlanta) and 6 (Dallas), and former EPA Acting Deputy Administrator, are interviewed on the changes likely to come under Andrew Wheeler’s leadership of EPA.

Margo Oge, former Director of the EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality and EPN member, describes the dangerous and potentially lasting impacts of the administration’s proposed “censored science” rule.

EPN member George Czerniak is quoted in this article on a Trump appointee at the EPA reviewing which pollution violations are referred to the Justice Department. A move some former officials see as providing the opportunity to stifle enforcement of anti-pollution laws.

David Coursen, EPN member and former Attorney-Advisor for the EPA’s Office of General Counsel, wrote this op-ed in The Hill. In it he addresses the prevailing view of the Trump administration that regulations have been inflated and are costly, despite his own Office of Management and Budget’s findings that environmental regulations save lives and money.

EPN member Robert Sussman, a former chemical industry lawyer and EPA official who now works for the advocacy group Safer Chemical, Healthy Families, is quoted in this article on how the Trump Administration has succumbed to heavy lobbying by the chemical industry and is  moving to scale back how it determines the health risks of dangerous chemicals on the market.

EPN members Janet McCabe and John Bachmann are quoted about Scott Pruitt’s “censored science” proposal in this article in Popular Science. The proposal would restrict the use of studies that EPA can consider in creating regulations to protect land, air and water.

Much of EPN member John Kennedy’s three decades at the EPA’s San Francisco office was spent protecting clean air. Along with his passions for community and volunteer work, Kennedy is now spending a politically engaged retirement speaking out against the Trump/Pruitt administration.

Robert Kavlock is the former Acting Assistant Administrator for the EPA Office of Research and Development and a retired EPA Science Advisor. He is currently an EPN member and has written this piece on the Trump/Pruitt attack on science.

EPN member John Kennedy – who worked 30+ years at EPA – speaks about what led him to the agency, his retirement and ongoing volunteer and community work and the importance of protecting clean air in the face of his own lung disease and Administrator Scott Pruitt’s efforts to undermine essential regulations.

EPN member John Kennedy worked 30+ years at the EPA and has been diagnosed with an advanced lung condition. He joins Andrea Mitchell to discuss the importance of clean air–especially as Administrator Scott Pruitt undermines essential regulation.

Ruth Greenspan Bell, who served as Assistant General Counsel in two different departments at the EPA from 1979 through 1996 and is a founding member of EPN, is quoted in this article on the current EPA’s reluctance to talk about its past successes due to low morale at the agency and a fear of retribution for speaking out against the Trump/Pruitt mission of deregulation.

Ruth Greenspan Bell, a former EPA attorney who serves as president of EPN’s Board of Directors, shared her views on Trump’s attack on science in an opinion column published in numerous newspapers.