Overview

• Almost 300 current and former EPA employees delivered a declaration of dissent on June 30 to protest major agency restructuring under President Trump’s executive orders.
• Signatories include 174 named staff and about 100 anonymous supporters, among them over 70 Nobel laureates, who outlined five core concerns from politicized messaging to a culture of fear.
• The declaration accuses leadership of sidelining the agency’s own scientific assessments and dissolving the Office of Research and Development, canceling billions in climate and pollution research grants.
• Dissenters caution that slashed funding and closure of the Office of Environmental Justice will exacerbate health risks for communities already burdened by pollution.
• The public protest follows previous staff walkouts and formal layoff notices, prompting doubts about the EPA’s ability to fulfill its mandate to safeguard human health and the environment.