And groups representing employees in jobs related to environmental issues warned that OPM’s plan would shatter employees’ ability to pursue science in government. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility warned the rules could have a chilling effect on employees whose job is ...

“People thought I was going to come in like a hammer, basically, for EJ communities,” Rayasam said. “The first thing I would say to literally anybody is ‘You guys have a mountain of work, and I’m just here to try to figure out how to help you get it done. I&# ...

The Rice Lake office and an office in Mounds View, Minn., are both operated by the USGS Upper Midwest Water Science Center. They are among the more than two dozen offices across the country DOGE has targeted for closure, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. USGS ...

Timothy Whitehouse, Executive Director of the non-profit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, who previously discussed the situation with the Guardian, told Space.com that when exactly the “cuts would come into force is hard to tell.” “This administration ...

Chemical companies and business groups with close ties to the administration have pushed back on the prospect of new PFAS regulations, which they say are contrary to the Trump administration’s deregulatory pledges. A slew of industry groups, for example, urged EPA last month to withdraw ...

News around public lands these days seems to revolve entirely around the Trump administration. In the case of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, many of the steps the administration is taking with the operational efficiencies of the National Park Service and other land ...

Already, the National Park Service has about one employee for every 17,000 visitors, said Timothy Whitehouse, the executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. “They’re breaking the system,” he said. “They’re traumatizing the workforce.” Many worry ...

Turf is incredibly damaging to the ecosystem due to the harmful chemicals and microplastics it contains. “As it’s exposed to UV light, and abrasion, and slightly acidic rain, even more [perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances] will [leach] off,” said Kyla Bennett of ...

In 2023, NPS official Frank Lands explicitly ordered the mine to cease and desist any activities other than water quality monitoring. Now it has been given full permission by the BLM to resume its operation. “Mining is one of the most destructive land-based activities,” Jeff Ruch, ...

Kyla Bennett, the policy director with the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and a former EPA scientist, said she suspects the agency and the justice department will, in effect, try to lose the case. “The DOJ could stop defending and do a shitty job and make the court ...

“Even though Project 2025 laid it out, it’s even scarier, I think, in person watching it happen,” Kyla Bennett, director of science policy at Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, told Sierra. “I used to work at EPA, and when I talk to people who are still there, they ...

“EPA has one mission: to protect human health and the environment,” says Kyla Bennett, a director of science policy at the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. “This flies in the face of their mission and everything they’re supposed to stand for.” Read ...

“Our understanding is that employees on administrative leave are denied access to email (where positions are often advertised internally) and hiring systems such as Talent Hub where open position descriptions are posted and through which candidates may apply,” Laura Dumais, staff ...

Smith stepped down in the fall of 2019 under curious circumstances that led Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility to charge that Smith was given a sweetheart deal to allow Vela to return as acting NPS director. The deal allowed Smith to live in North Carolina and work from ...

There have been some studies quantifying the pollution of launches and the potential impact of burning satellites on the higher portions of the atmosphere and the ozone layer. But it’s preliminary work and more research is needed. This is why the timing of funding cuts is the worst ...

Maybe. A week after the February layoffs, and following a swell of public backlash, the park service announced it would hire up to 7,700 seasonal positions this year, more than the three-year average of 6,350 seasonal workers it normally hires. “There are just a lot of unknowns about ...

With the help of Ames, the couples have been able to test their soil and tissue from some of the deceased animals. They sent samples to Kyla Bennett at Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, an environmental-protection nonprofit that serves as a resource for whistleblowers. ...

“Obviously there’s political motivation, and Elon Musk’s business interests are tied up in Noaa’s work,” said Tim Whitehouse, executive director of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility non-profit, which has filed a Freedom of Information Act request for emails ...

Kyla Bennett, director of science policy at Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) is also glad that the EPA is adding positions to the OCSPP, but “that division is so broken that I fear throwing more people in there, particularly people who may not have expertise in ...

“This episode epitomizes the cruelty, ignorance, and gross mismanagement ignited by DOGE in the federal service,” Tim Whitehouse, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said in a statement. Typically, federal employees who aren’t in their ...