In the News

Bob Perciasepe, Former EPA Deputy Administrator, and Jeremy Symons, Senior Adviser to EPN, were quoted in E&E News about The Heritage Foundation’s FOIA request of over 2,000 records across all federal agencies.

Margo Oge, former Director, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, penned an op-ed in Forbes refuting the false choice between economic growth or climate action that Project 2025 touts. Margo writes that Biden’s simultaneous success of an ambitious climate agenda and growth of the clean energy economy lay the foundation for a global clean energy transition.

Elin Betanzo, former Environmental Engineer, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, and Ronnie Levin, former Senior Scientist, EPA Region 1, were quoted in The Guardian about lawsuits backed by the utility industry against EPA and its recent PFAS drinking water standards. The utilities allege that EPA did not use adequate science and data when writing the rule.

Linda Birnbaum, former Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Toxicology Program (NTP), was quoted in CNN about the dangerous levels of flame retardants found in black-colored plastic kitchen utensils and children’s toys.

Stan Meiburg, former EPA Deputy Regional Administrator in Region 4 and Region 6 and Acting EPA Deputy Administrator, Jeremy Symons, Senior adviser to EPN, and Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, former Acting Assistant Administrator of EPA’s Office of Research and Development, were quoted in Fast Company about how if Project 2025 is implemented and EPA is politicized, it will be detrimental to public health and take decades to recover from.

Betsy Southerland, former Director of the Office of Science and Technology, EPA Office of Water, wrote an op-ed, “Project 2025 Ensures PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ Will Contaminate Us Forever,” that was featured in E&E News.

Jeremy Symons, Senior Adviser to EPN, and Rob Wolcott, former EPA Senior Counsel to ORD, were quoted in Public News Service about EPN’s latest report, Breathing Easy: An Assessment of Public Health Benefits from EPA Air Pollution Standards (2021-24).

Jeremy Symons, Senior Adviser to EPN, and EPN’s latest report, were featured in an op-ed in the Daily Herald Gazette in which the author writes of the dangers of Project 2025 and the potential elimination of EPA.

EPN’s latest report, Breathing Easy: An Assessment of Public Health Benefits from EPA Air Pollution Standards (2021–2024), and Stan Meiburg, former DRA, Region 6, and Acting Deputy Administrator, were featured in The Verge emphasizing EPA’s necessary air standards that help improve public health.

Jeremy Symons, Senior Adviser to EPN, was quoted in The Guardian about EPN’s report, saying that our analysis is “jaw-dropping.” An EPA spokesperson responded to the report, saying, “We appreciate the work of the Environmental Protection Network and look forward to reviewing their report.”

EPN’s report, Breathing Easy: An Assessment of Public Health Benefits from EPA Air Pollution Standards (2021-24), was featured in Inside EPA. Rob Wolcott, former EPA Senior Counsel to EPA’s Office of Research and Development, and Jeremy Symons, senior adviser to EPN, were quoted.

EPN’s report, Breathing Easy: An Assessment of Public Health Benefits from EPA Air Pollution Standards (2021-24), was featured in Electrek and calls attention to the dangers of Project 2025.

EPN’s new report, Breathing Easy: An Assessment of Public Health Benefits from EPA Air Pollution Standards (2021-24), was featured in E&E News.

Betsy Southerland, former Director, Office of Science & Technology in the Office of Water, was quoted in Inside EPA about how the House’s Continuing Resolution would slow down EPA’s PFAS projects, adding to the existing 8-month delay for manufacturers to report PFAS usage under TSCA.

Betsy Southerland, former Director of Science and Technology, EPA Office of Water, was quoted in this article about a petition requesting that EPA withdraw water permitting authority from North Carolina because the state’s legislature is interfering with PFAS regulation.

Stan Meiburg, former EPA Deputy Regional Administrator in Region 4 and Region 6 and Acting EPA Deputy Administrator, was quoted in Savannah Morning News about the Army Corps of Engineers reconsidering a permit approval for Hyundai’s Motor company to extract 6.6 million gallons of water a day from a Bryan County, GA, aquifer.

Linda Birnbaum, former Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Toxicology Program (NTP), and Tracey Woodruff, ​​former EPA Senior Scientist and Director of the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment at UCSF, were quoted in Inside Climate News about EPA’s use of an external review firm with ties to chemical and manufacturing industries to classify the pesticide 1,3-D.

EPN’s amicus brief filed in support of EPA’s PM2.5 NAAQS was quoted in Inside EPA. The briefing detailed that the rule aligned with EPA’s past practices and scientific methodology.

Penny Fenner-Crisp, former Senior Science Advisor to the Director, EPA Office of Pesticide Programs, and Betsy Southerland, former Director of the Office of Science and Technology, EPA Office of Water, were quoted in The Guardian about the NGO run by Michael Dourson, a controversial former EPA staffer turned industry scientist, who is developing peer-reviewed science for chemical companies to use against EPA’s PFAS drinking water standards.

Linda Birnbaum, former Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Toxicology Program (NTP), was quoted in NPR about a study from the National Institutes of Health that associates high fluoride consumption from drinking water with lower IQ in children.

Ronnie Levin, former Senior Scientist, EPA Region 1, was quoted in E&E News about the role EPA is playing in Chicago’s water policy.

Margo Oge, former Director, EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality, penned an op-ed in Forbes in response to a promise Trump made at the Republican National Convention, saying that he would “end the electric vehicle mandate on day one.” Margo challenges this claim by writing about the legal, policy, and economic consequences of reversing electric vehicle progress. 

Betsy Southerland, former Director of the Office of Science and Technology, EPA Office of Water, was quoted in The Guardian about the World Health Organization’s decision to rescind PFAS drinking water guidelines after criticism that researchers tied to the chemical industry ignored credible research about PFAS.

Linda Birnbaum, former Director, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, was quoted in Inside EPA from a webinar she presented, hosted by the Collaboration for Health and Environment, calling for EPA to ban micro- and nanoplastics from consumer goods and make plans to phase out chemicals used to make plastics.