A sign directs to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency facility in Pensacola Beach on Wedneday, April 9, 2025
Washington D.C. – In a rare and forceful public rebuke, more than 170 Environmental Protection Agency employees have signed a declaration of dissent, warning that the Trump administration’s environmental policies are “undermining the EPA mission of protecting human health and the environment.”
Roughly 100 additional employees joined the letter anonymously, citing fear of retaliation. The declaration, also signed by over 70 Nobel laureates and non-agency scientists, marks one of the most visible acts of protest within the agency’s ranks in recent memory—an indication of growing alarm among career scientists and experts who say their work is being dismantled from within.
The dissent comes amid a series of policy shifts at the EPA under Administrator Lee Zeldin that critics say prioritize deregulation and short-term industry gains at the expense of long-standing public health protections. Under Zeldin’s leadership, the agency has proposed repealing limits on greenhouse gas emissions from coal and gas plants, cutting pollution safeguards in tribal and protected lands, and attempting to undo bans on hazardous substances such as asbestos. At the same time, funding has been slashed for the Office of Research and Development, especially in areas tied to climate change and environmental justice.
“Americans should be able to drink their water and breathe their air without being poisoned,” said Amelia Hertzberg, an environmental protection specialist who has been on administrative leave from the EPA since February. Hertzberg worked in the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, a department now slated for closure. “If they aren’t, then our government is failing.”
The letter outlines five central concerns: erosion of public trust, abandonment of scientific consensus, harm to vulnerable communities, dismantling of EPA research infrastructure, and the promotion of a workplace culture where employees must choose between job security and scientific integrity.
For many who signed, including those outside the EPA, the moment is seen not as political but existential. Jeremy Berg, a former NIH official and one of the organizers.
“This isn’t partisan,” said Jeremy Berg, a former NIH official and one of the organizers, continued, “[it] only matters if you breathe air and drink water.”
EPA officials responded with a statement defending the administration’s actions, arguing that policy decisions reflect careful briefings and research. The agency also blamed the Biden administration for “shutting down American energy” and causing greater environmental harm abroad.
But for signatories like Carol Greider, a Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist, the consequences of rolling back protections are concrete and deadly. “People are going to die,” she said, referencing both the heat waves tied to climate change and the long-term degradation of air quality.
