This blog post is adapted from our How We Fight Back email series. Read more by clicking the links below.
Want more like this? Subscribe to PEERMail today!
This week we continue our series leading up to the midterm elections, How We Fight Back. In this post we turn to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — an agency whose mission is to implement federal laws that protect public health and the environment.
Under Administrator Lee Zeldin’s leadership, EPA has instituted a culture of fear, destroyed its science programs, gutted most of its environmental programs, and betrayed its basic mission in order to please a few select powerful industries.
Here are seven ways PEER is fighting back, and a few thoughts on how we can all fight back together.
- Standing up for Public Employees
Administrator Zeldin has been a leader in the Trump administration’s war on the truth. He has worked to silence or fire public employees who speak out about issues of concern and to purge those whose work history may indicate disloyalty to the leader.
That’s why we’re representing EPA staff who were unjustly fired for speaking out about their concerns and who have been “laid off” because they work on environmental justice issues. This is some of the most important work we do.
If you haven’t seen it, check out this video from one of our EPA clients.
- Addressing Toxic Chemicals
Across the political spectrum, Americans are alarmed by the rollbacks of EPA’s chemical programs and how the agency is turning its back on communities harmed by toxic pollution. Our work includes fighting in federal court for farmers whose livelihoods have been destroyed by PFAS and making sensible recommendations to improve protections for all Americans.
Learn more about our work with farming families in Texas in this video.
- Enforcing Environmental Laws
Big polluters are getting a free ride under this administration, and that’s not fair to communities that bear the brunt of their pollution and to businesses that work hard to keep people safe. So PEER is digging deep into EPA’s environmental enforcement program.
This deep dive is building on our widely cited study that revealed a sharp drop in enforcement at EPA. We look forward to updating you on this work soon.
- Fighting the AI Black Box
The administration is racing ahead with AI. This race is reckless and will put us all at risk. EPA’s lack of transparency and specificity on its use of AI is of great concern. EPA has failed to provide basic information explaining how its AI systems are configured, what safeguards are in place, or whether such tools are being used in regulatory decision-making.
To learn more, read about our information request to EPA on AI usage and why this issue is so important.
- Keeping an Eye on Climate Change
The climate is rapidly warming, and next year promises to bring more impacts across the globe. While President Trump is busy trading oil and gas stocks and doing everything he can to kill clean renewable energy, Administrator Zeldin is his chief enabler who shamelessly promotes a fossil fuel agenda.
Learn more about our approach to climate change during this period of rising authoritarianism and read about our opposition to EPA’s efforts to repeal the endangerment finding, a scientific lynchpin for our nation’s climate efforts.
- Highlighting the Loss of Science
Administrator Zeldin has been methodical in his efforts to destroy EPA’s ability to conduct meaningful, independent science. We have been a go-to source for major publications across the country on how EPA is gutting scientific research and why this matters. Good science is the foundation of environmental protections — something this administration is intent on throwing out the window.
- Looking at the Big Picture
It’s important for us to look not just at EPA, but at this administration’s broader effort to move to a corrupt, authoritarian system of government. And PEER has done that well by exposing corruption and pay-to-play politics, fighting the administration’s efforts to seize control of trillions of dollars in grant money, and opposing efforts to require public servants to sign broad non-disclosure agreements.
These underlying problems must be fixed if we want our government to work for all of us.
What’s our larger goal here? Simply put, it’s to fight the rising tide of authoritarianism, protect what we can, and build support for a better EPA once the dust settles from the disastrous Trump reign.
We are often asked — how can I help?
Make sure your elected representatives and those running for office hear directly from you. The corruption we’re witnessing is eating away at not just EPA, but at the soul of our country and shouldn’t be allowed to continue.
Tim Whitehouse is the Executive Director at PEER.