FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 2, 2025
CONTACT: Aaron Bharucha, Public Relations Associate
(509) 429-1699 and epn-press@environmentalprotectionnetwork.org
Environmental Protection Network Statement:
We Will Continue to Be a Voice of Truth
The Environmental Protection Network (EPN) is a non-partisan and not-for-profit organization founded by former EPA career staff and political appointees from both Republican and Democratic administrations. EPN’s mission is to protect lives and our environment by exercising our free speech so we can be a source of uncensored, scientific, factual information. Freedom of speech is the cornerstone of our nation — and it is the driving purpose behind our work to protect the public from death and disease caused by needless pollution in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat.
The September 25 Presidential Memorandum is intended to silence criticism of this administration by intimidating all of us under the false pretext of rooting out violent extremism.
This order directs the federal government to investigate charitable organizations and individuals because their views contradict the policies of this administration. This directive is solely based on politics and intended to silence reasonable, nonviolent debate. When our federal government employs these tactics, we all pay the price. Silencing science and civic discourse doesn’t just weaken a few institutions; it threatens the rights, health, and future of every community.
No person or organization should fear government persecution for telling the truth. Political debate and public expressions of different viewpoints is not a criminal act — it is the heart and soul of our democracy.
We will continue to be a voice of truth, transparency, and freedom of expression. We will base our views on facts, science, and the law. We will continue to work nonviolently to ensure all Americans are protected from the leading causes of death in the United States — heart disease and cancer — which are significantly worsened by environmental pollution.
This administration has consistently taken steps to hide proven scientific facts and critical environmental information from the public. While the administration works to hide the truth, here are the facts that we all should remember:
- In the United States, air pollution from burning oil, coal, and gas causes 350,000 deaths every year, accounting for one in every eight deaths. That’s eight times as many people as die from motor vehicle accidents and seven times the number of people killed by guns.
- By rolling back environmental regulations and allowing more air pollution, this administration’s policies will lead to premature deaths of an estimated 200,000 Americans between now and 2050.
- Nearly half of the U.S. population lives in places with unhealthy levels of air pollution.
- In some states — including Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, New Jersey, Maryland, New York, and Wisconsin — fossil fuel air pollution accounts for nearly one in every five deaths.
It’s especially dangerous to our well-being when this administration works to muzzle not-for-profit public health organizations and universities, because they are simultaneously preventing career experts at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, and other agencies from fully protecting our safety and health. Now more than ever, we need viable not-for-profit organizations to ensure our government protects the air we breathe, the water we drink, the communities we live and prosper in, and — most importantly — our freedom to speak freely.
Throughout history, authoritarian governments have attempted to use fear and intimidation to silence critics and free speech, and to hide the truth from its citizens. This is a test — of our democracy, our resolve, and our willingness to speak truth to power. We will continue to raise our voice to ensure we all are provided the benefits of science-based environmental protections.
We will also stand together with others and have joined thousands of nonprofit organizations in signing an open letter rejecting presidential attacks.
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ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION NETWORK
Founded in 2017, the Environmental Protection Network harnesses the expertise of more than 700 former EPA career staff and confirmation-level appointees from Democratic and Republican administrations to provide the unique perspective of former scientists and regulators with decades of historical and subject matter knowledge. Find all of EPN’s recent press statements here.