In the News

Tracey Woodruff, EPN member; Director, Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment at the University of California; former EPA senior scientist; and former policy advisor, EPA Office of Policy, was quoted in this article discussing the shortfalls of EPA’s decision to ban the pesticide chlorpyrifos based on data showing the chemical reduced function of cholinesterase, an important enzyme in the brain, rather than on epidemiological studies that showed chlorpyrifos negatively impacted neurodevelopment.

Betsy Southerland, EPN member and former Director, Office of Research and Development, EPA Office of Water, was quoted and EPN was mentioned in this article discussing how the increased funding appropriated to the EPA Superfund program in the $1 trillion infrastructure bill could go towards accelerating clean up of orphan sites.

EPN members Linda Birnbaum, former Director, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and former EPA scientist, and Bob Sussman, former EPA Deputy Administrator and Senior Policy Counsel to the EPA Administrator, were quoted in this article about the Trump EPA suppressing data from its Integrated Risk Information System linking formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, to increased risk of leukemia.

EPN members Stan Meiburg, former EPA Acting Deputy Administrator and former Regional Administrator, EPA Regions 4 and 6, and Bob Perciasepe, Senior Advisor at Center for Climate and Energy Solutions and former EPA Deputy Administrator, were quoted in this article about the slow pace of Senate confirmations for EPA nominees and the benefits of streamlining the confirmation process.

Mustafa Santiago Ali, EPN member, Vice President of Environmental Justice, Climate, and Community Revitalization for the National Wildlife Federation, former EPA Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization, and former EPA Assistant Associate Administrator for Environmental Justice, was quoted in this article about the protracted struggle to get extensive cleanup of the Industrial Excess Landfill, a Superfund site that has been on EPA’s National Priorities List since 1986.

Jeff Alson, EPN member and former Senior Engineer and Policy Advisor, EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality, was quoted in this article regarding the Biden administration’s recent vehicle fuel-efficiency standards announcement and the challenges in crafting standards for vehicles produced beyond 2026.

Mark Ryan, EPN member and former Regional Counsel, EPA Region 10, was quoted in this article discussing a recent court case challenging the scope of the Clean Water Act that may appear before the Supreme Court, suggesting a need for EPA to promulgate a revised ruling on waters of the United States very soon.

Mustafa Santiago Ali, EPN member; Vice President of Environmental Justice, Climate, and Community Revitalization for the National Wildlife Federation; former EPA Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization; and former EPA Assistant Associate Administrator for Environmental Justice, was quoted in this article discussing how EPA needs to do more to meet the needs of minority communities and how those communities should be permitted to shape policy that impacts them.

Tom Sinks, EPN member; former Human Subjects Research Review Official, EPA Program in Human Research and Ethics Oversight; former Director, EPA Office of the Science Advisor; and former Deputy Director, National Center for Environmental Health & Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, CDC, penned this Letter to the Editor discussing why mask mandates should follow CDC guidance and why such public health decisions should be nonpolitical.

Mustafa Santiago Ali, EPN member, Vice President of Environmental Justice, Climate, and Community Revitalization for the National Wildlife Federation, former EPA Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization, and former EPA Assistant Associate Administrator for Environmental Justice, was quoted in this article about how the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, as currently written, could compromise President Biden’s plan to confront environmental racism by meeting the needs of underprivileged and underserved communities.

Mustafa Santiago Ali, EPN member; Vice President of Environmental Justice, Climate, and Community Revitalization for the National Wildlife Federation; former EPA Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization; and former EPA Assistant Associate Administrator for Environmental Justice, was interviewed by Kelly Wright discussing the impacts that pollution from fossil fuels, farming practices, and deforestation have had on climate change and on vulnerable communities.

Mustafa Santiago Ali, EPN member, Vice President of Environmental Justice, Climate, and Community Revitalization for the National Wildlife Federation, former EPA Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization, and former EPA Assistant Associate Administrator for Environmental Justice, was quoted in this article about making it easier for lower- and middle-income families to gain access to federal clean energy incentives so they can participate in lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

Mustafa Santiago Ali, EPN member, Vice President of Environmental Justice, Climate, and Community Revitalization for the National Wildlife Federation, former EPA Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization, and former EPA Assistant Associate Administrator for Environmental Justice, was quoted in this article discussing how the public needs to push government to action on the climate crisis in the wake of the recent report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Recommendations from EPN’s PFAS Action Plan were cited in this article about the pending release of guidance from EPA’s intra-agency advisory council on PFAS.

Tim Whitehouse, EPN member, PEER Executive Director, and former EPA Senior Attorney and Advisor on enforcement and compliance, was quoted in this article discussing the high levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) found in seafood caught in Chesapeake Bay, likely due to the bay’s proximity to many military installations that have used PFAS-containing firefighting foam.

Linda Birnbaum, EPN member, former Director, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and former EPA scientist, was quoted in this article about the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in many everyday items, including waterproof makeup, and how consumers should try to stay away from them unless for essential use.

Betsy Southerland, EPN member and former Director, Office of Science & Technology, EPA Office of Water, was quoted in this article regarding what can be done at the state level to set legally-enforceable regulations on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances dischargers.

Mustafa Santiago Ali, EPN member, Vice President of Environmental Justice, Climate, and Community Revitalization for the National Wildlife Federation, former EPA Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization, and former EPA Assistant Associate Administrator for Environmental Justice, was interviewed by Joy Reid explaining how to educate the public on the real-life impacts of the climate crisis and how elected officials must do more to include environmental justice as part of climate action.

EPN was mentioned and EPN member Jeff Alson, former Senior Engineer and Policy Advisor, EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality, was quoted in this article about President Biden’s executive order to have 50 percent of all vehicles sold come equipped with plug-in hybrid, battery electric, or fuel cell powertrains by 2030, in addition to directing EPA and DOT to change the rollbacks to fuel standards under the Trump administration. 

EPN member Jeff Alson, former Senior Engineer and Policy Advisor, EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality, is quoted in this article about President Biden’s announcement to revise the Trump administration’s rollback of fuel economy standards, making them more stringent than before they were loosened, as well a goal for zero-emissions vehicles to make up 50 percent of new-car sales by 2030.

Margo Oge, EPN member and former Director, EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality, was quoted in this article regarding the Biden administration’s efforts to speed the adoption of electric vehicles in the coming 15 years, aided by steep declines in the costs of batteries, the shift in car makers’ strategies, and growing public pressure to reduce the greenhouse gases causing climate change.

EPN members Jeff Alson, former Senior Engineer and Policy Advisor, EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality, was quoted in this article about the Biden administration’s goal of making half of new vehicle sales in this country electric by 2030, as well as shorter-term proposals intended to push the market toward emission-free vehicles. Jeff was quoted in a similar piece in Greenwire.

Bob Sussman, EPN member; counsel for Safer Chemicals Healthy Families; former EPA Deputy Administrator; and former Senior Policy Counsel to the EPA Administrator, was quoted in this article suggesting the pre-prioritization of chemicals as part of EPA’s planned tiered data rule in the TSCA regulatory process, an Obama-era recommendation that had been abandoned by the Trump administration.

EPN member Judith Enck, former Regional Administrator, EPA Region 2, was quoted in this article regarding bipartisan compromise for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act bill scrapping the bulk of the taxes that once financed the Superfund program, leaving little hope that it can return to its original strength.