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EPA employees accuse Trump administration of 'ignoring' science / Photo: © POOL/AFP
EPA employees accuse Trump administration of 'ignoring' science
US President Donald Trump's administration is "ignoring the scientific consensus to benefit polluters," hundreds of Environmental Protection Agency employees said in a letter of dissent Monday, accusing the government of undermining the EPA's core mission.
The scathing letter, signed by more than 200 current and former officials and their supporters, accused EPA chief Lee Zeldin of enacting policies dangerous to both humans and the environment.
"The decisions of the current administration frequently contradict the peer-reviewed research and recommendations of Agency experts," said the letter.
"Make no mistake: your actions endanger public health and erode scientific progress -- not only in America -- but around the world."
Under Zeldin, the EPA has worked to deliver Trump's campaign promises of lifting environmental regulations, boosting fossil fuel production and cutting clean energy spending.
The letter identifies five main areas of concern, including the increasing politicization of the agency, the reversing of programs aimed at marginalized communities and the "dismantling" of the agency's Office of Research and Development.
It described the agency's communications under Zeldin as being used "to promote misinformation and overtly partisan rhetoric."
"This politicized messaging distracts from EPA's core responsibility: to protect human health and the environment through objective, science-based policy."
As an example, the letter cited official communications that likened "climate science to a religion."
Zeldin has repeatedly stated that he sees the EPA's role as supporting US economic growth, and under his guidance the agency has set in motion a full-scale reversal of several environmental standards and greenhouse gas regulations.
Unveiling a set of policy initiatives in March, Zeldin hailed the move as "the greatest day of deregulation our nation has seen."
"We are driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion to drive down cost of living for American families, unleash American energy, bring auto jobs back to the US and more," said the administrator of the federal agency charged with protecting the environment.
The letter came weeks after the publication of a similar text signed by dozens of employees of the National Institutes of Health over the Trump administration's "harmful" policies.
The EPA letter had more than 170 "anonymous signers," with the text stating the administration had promoted "a culture of fear" at the agency.
S. dos Reis--JDB
