News Clips

From: Herald-Whig “Environmental groups, including Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and others filed the lawsuit June 28 in Washington. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acted prematurely, “based on flawed assumptions and shoddy science,” when it took ...

From: Akron Beacon-Journal “Recall how Pruitt became representative of the swamp President Trump says he wants to drain — from around-the-clock security and the $43,000 secure phone booth to excessive first-class travel at taxpayer expense and enlisting aides to perform personal ...

From: E&E News “Thirteen federal investigations into Pruitt were open before he left the agency Friday. Some of those probes could still ensnare political aides who remain on the payroll, even as acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler tries to steer the agency away from the ...

From: The Advocate “A national nonprofit group along with a number of Louisiana organizations and individuals have filed suit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seeking to have the Louisiana black bear put back on the list of endangered species. The bear, a sub-species of the ...

From: USA Today “Hundreds of scientists, researchers and other staff have left the agency over the past 18 months taking with them institutional expertise. In addition, administrative, civil and criminal enforcement actions continued to drop under Pruitt, a trend that began under ...

“So when Pruitt’s resignation was tweeted by President Trump on Thursday afternoon, there was relief among many EPA employees, according to Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a non-profit legal group that represents civil servants ...

From: The New Yorker “Pruitt’s head-scratching personal behavior as a boss overshadowed much more consequential actions, such as the reduction of criminal-enforcement actions against polluters; an investigation released last month by the nonprofit group Public Employees for ...

From: The News Star “The lawsuit led by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) with co-counsel Atchafalaya Basinkeeper said the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service used “false assumptions and shoddy science” to make its decision for removal. Restoring the ...

From: The Guardian “After months of scandals, investigations and public protest, Scott Pruitt has finally resigned as head of the Environmental Protection Agency. During his relatively short time in the role, he was accused of a litany of corrupt practices, illegal activities and ...

From: New York Times “The strange story of Rob Wielgus is a tale of what happened to one loud scientist who ran afoul of powerful forces. More broadly, it’s a parable of the American West in the 21st century and of how little we still can agree what it should look like. And it’s ...

From: KITV “A steady stream of negative headlines involving Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt in recent weeks and months has official Washington wondering whether the embattled agency chief can hold on to his job. Pruitt came to Washington already a ...

From: E&E News “Jeff Ruch, executive director of the nonprofit watchdog Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said Vela’s record suggests he won’t be a “change agent” for the Park Service. Despite all of the talk about the need to change the ...

From: FedWeek “A group that advocates for federal employees involved in environmental matters has reported that the appeals backlog at MSPB now exceeds 1,100, with some of the cases dating to 2014. Data compiled by the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility show that more ...

From: The Washington Post “To not run afoul of that vacancies law, Zinke gave 10 acting directors the power to carry out duties “not required by statute or regulation to be performed only by the Senate-confirmed official,” according to a Jan. 12 order obtained by the nonprofit ...

From: Chemistry World “The managing director of the embattled US Chemical Safety Board (CSB), who had been on paid administrative leave since June 2015 over accusations of mismanagement and leadership deficiencies, has just been officially terminated by the outgoing chairwoman of the ...

From: Politico “EPA has until August to hand over scientific information to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility under a previous court order related to its FOIA request on comments Pruitt made during an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” where he said human ...

From: SF Gate “Attorneys representing 38,000 residents of San Francisco’s Hunters Point and Bayview neighborhoods in a lawsuit against Tetra Tech, the firm hired by the U.S. Navy to rid the area’s former shipyard of toxic waste, said today they’ve added more than 2, ...

From: Greenwire “In her decision Friday rejecting EPA’s full request for additional time, Chief Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia admonished the agency for rehashing “already-rejected arguments” and dragging its feet on ...

From: HufF Post “The Interior Department’s internal watchdog released a report Thursday describing an inappropriate gesture made by the National Park Service director in department headquarters. While Paul Daniel Smith is unlikely to be punished over the incident, the case ...

From: Moultrie News / OpEd “One of the reasons for the increase in the attacks against Pruitt is his April 30 introduction of “Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science,” a new EPA rule saying that no scientific research study may be used for environment and energy policy ...