Trump admin clips EPA oversight amid deregulatory blitz
by
Michelle Shaffer | January 28, 2026
In a complaint filed last April, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility accused EPA of violating federal law by idling some workers indefinitely because of their purported connection to environmental justice work. The group asked the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, an ...
Interior watchdog sees both peril and promise in department shake-up
by
Michelle Shaffer | January 27, 2026
According to a report issued last November by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, the consolidation boosted the Interior Office of the Secretary staff level to nearly 8,200 employees, up from about 3,300 in September 2024, During the same period, the PEER report calculated ...
Dead livestock, lost farms and PFAS: Why pressure is mounting to rein in toxic sludge
by
Michelle Shaffer | January 26, 2026
This past year, our series of investigations into PFAS contamination in farmland and food systems has examined how chemicals in sludge can move from soil to animals, food and people. Dumais, with the advocacy group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, is leading a ...
Are drugmakers talking to us or Trump when they pledge new NC factories?
by
Michelle Shaffer | January 23, 2026
Within a six-month span last year, the EPA said it cut the number of rodents at its newly formed Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions from 466 down to 41. In place of mammals, the agency promotes emerging New Approach Methods like computer modeling and in vitro diagnostics ...
DOJ ends criminal prosecutions of vehicle emissions ‘defeat devices’
by
Michelle Shaffer | January 22, 2026
The new policy comes as the watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility on Thursday issued a report saying that there has been a “collapse” of civil enforcement of environmental laws in Trump’s first year back in office. DOJ lodged consent decrees in ...
Watchdog warns of ‘collapse’ in environmental enforcement
by
Michelle Shaffer |
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility said in a report released Thursday there is a “collapse of environmental civil enforcement” across programs designed to clean up air pollution, dirty water and toxic waste. Since his return to office, President Donald Trump has rallied ...