Summer is a busy time, and we thank you for taking the time to stay engaged with PEER’s work. Your engagement with these issues, whether through donating, talking with neighbors, or writing to your legislators, helps keep pressure on government agencies and leadership to uphold their responsibilities to people and the planet.
Below you’ll find updates on how PEER is holding Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin accountable, pushing back against industry-friendly policymaking by the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission, and supporting whistleblower protections for government contractors who report wrongdoing.
This work is possible thanks to support like yours.
Sincerely,
Tim Whitehouse
Executive Director
P.S. Write your representatives today urging them to protect our farms, farmers, and food from toxic fertilizers.
EPA Boss Spreads Employee Misinformation
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is unable to produce any evidence supporting his allegations that many EPA employees are absent from the office or nonexistent, according to a Freedom of Information Act request submitted by PEER. President Trump has cited Zeldin’s claims of widespread employee waste as justification for mass staff removals from the agency. Instead, his claims about absent or fake EPA employees appear to be ideologically based misinformation. Read More »
Kennedy Commission Falls Short
The mission of the Make America Healthy Again Commission, chaired by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, is to address rising levels of chronic diseases and declining life expectancies, and other public health challenges. Language in its draft report, recently leaked to the press, is a victory for Big Ag and pesticide and chemical companies. Read Our Comments »
The Importance of Addressing Toxic Sewage Sludge
Toxic sewage sludge used as fertilizer is poisoning farmland throughout the country. PEER, along with the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, the Potomac Riverkeeper Network, Johnson County, Texas, and individual Texas ranchers, submitted comments on EPA’s draft risk assessment of certain PFAS chemicals in this sludge. Read More »
Whistleblower Protections Advance for Contractors
A bipartisan committee has advanced major whistleblower legislation for government contractors. The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs voted to expand legislation that would significantly strengthen protections for federal contractors who expose waste, fraud, and abuse. PEER is part of a coalition of groups that is supporting this legislation. Read Our Comments »
New Wave of Personnel Actions Threatens National Parks
Kaylee Rodriguez, PEER’s litigation assistant, writes that the National Park Service (NPS) is struggling to keep up amid increasing uncertainty and understaffing. The effects are already being felt across the country and will be exacerbated by further personnel actions. To make a dire situation worse, she writes, the administration is moving forward with actions that will slash deeper into NPS resources and personnel. The results could be crippling. Read More »
