PRESS

Drinking water expert Elin Warn Betanzo is suing the EPA after it dismissed her from an advisory committee for signing a declaration of dissent. Her case raises a bigger question — one that reaches all the way to your kitchen sink: what happens to the rest of us when the government tells its own scientists to stay quiet?

At the second annual Attribution Science and Climate Law conference, CSLDF and others discussed "Defending Science in the Current Political Climate" and how climate researchers have faced lawsuits, aggressive open‑records requests, and proposals to dismantle federal research programs.

Drinking water expert Elin Warn Betanzo is suing the Trump administration for its “zero-tolerance policy” towards dissent. In a federal lawsuit filed on June 22, she accuses the EPA of violating her First Amendment rights by suspending and later removing her from an EPA advisory committee.

“The Trump EPA is using their zero-tolerance policy to intimidate EPA scientists from doing their jobs to protect Americans. So this is my story, but it’s also the story of many others,” said Warn Betanzo.

Former EPA advisor Elin Warn Betanzo is suing the Environmental Protection Agency for its "zero-tolerance" policy toward dissent and for violating her First Amendment rights by firing her after she publicly criticized agency leadership.

“Today I am continuing my fight for safe water by suing the Trump administration for violating my First Amendment right to free speech,” Warn Betanzo said. “The administration fired me and my EPA colleagues to scare public servants into silence. I’ve fought for safe drinking water before, and I will not be intimidated.”

“When I joined the NDWAC, I committed to protecting public health and safe drinking water,” said drinking water expert Elin Warn Betanzo. “I’m fighting for the rights of all government employees and the safety of our drinking water.”

Drinking water expert Elin Warn Betanzo has filed a federal lawsuit against the EPA, arguing that the agency violated her First Amendment rights when it fired her for signing a letter of dissent.

The firing of all 22 current members of the National Science Board stands out as one of the darkest moments of Trump's second term. “They’ve basically taken a wrecking ball to this [board], and we don’t know exactly how they plan to rebuild it, but if history is any indication, they will want to put in very administration-loyal, probably unqualified people,” said Lauren Kurtz, CSLDF Director.

"If scientific uncertainty was the real reason for disregarding benefits, a good-faith response would be to conduct more research to reduce the uncertainty. Instead, the Trump administration has systematically canceled research programs, closed laboratories, fired scientists, distorted research results, and generally attacked the scientific enterprise."

As the Trump administration deletes and alters critical data, scientists are pushing back. Chris Marchesano, CSLDF attorney, pointed to a fact-check created by more than 80 scientists that challenged an Energy Department report filled with inaccuracies about climate change.