Science, Health, and Justice Under Siege: Why We Must Pay Attention
“The greatest day of deregulation our nation has seen.” - Lee Zeldin, New EPA Administrator
In recent months, we have seen a deeply troubling wave of actions from federal agencies, actions that threaten not just environmental protections, but also the role of science itself in public life.
At the EPA, a sweeping deregulation campaign is underway.
New EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has overseen mass layoffs, fired 280 staffers, and reassigned another 175, many from offices focused on environmental justice and civil rights. Grant programs that once funded community resilience and environmental health have been slashed. Internal documents reveal that agency lawyers froze grant money before securing any evidence of wrongdoing. This is a legally risky move that could cost taxpayers billions.
On March 12, Zeldin celebrated what he called “the greatest day of deregulation our nation has seen,” announcing 31 separate deregulatory actions, including the weakening of vital coal ash protections. Meanwhile, the administration has withdrawn lawsuits against polluters, such as a chloroprene-emitting plant, even though chloroprene is classified as a likely human carcinogen by the EPA.
The USDA has similarly pulled back, abandoning a plan to limit salmonella levels in raw poultry, despite clear public health risks.
“Make no mistake: Shipping more salmonella to restaurants and grocery stores is certain to make Americans sicker,” says Sarah Sorscher of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
At the Department of Veterans Affairs, offices created to fix racial disparities in benefits have been dismantled, alongside proposals to deeply cut funding for veteran service organizations.
These moves represent more than bureaucratic reshuffling. They are an ideological assault on public health, civil rights, and scientific evidence.
A New Front: Political Pressure on Scientific Journals
The threats aren’t limited to environmental regulation. In a deeply concerning development, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has now turned its focus to scientific journals.
The DOJ recently sent letters to several major medical journals, including CHEST, questioning their editorial practices and asking how they handle issues of bias, misinformation, and advertiser relationships. This inquiry, led by Interim U.S. Attorney Edward Martin Jr., has alarmed many in the scientific and free speech communities, who warn that represents a chilling attack on academic independence that will further undermine public trust in peer-reviewed science.
At a time when misinformation spreads easily, threatening to intimidate or politically police medical journals risks further destabilizing the already fragile ecosystem of credible scientific information.
The Importance of Scientific Whistleblowers
In contrast to these government overreaches organizations like Retraction Watch remind us of the right way to uphold scientific integrity.
Retraction Watch tracks the retraction of scientific papers, often uncovering misconduct like falsified data, plagiarism, and undisclosed conflicts of interest. Their work depends heavily on whistleblowers, scientists, editors, and reviewers who courageously expose wrongdoing within research institutions and journals. You can read more about my discussion and more about Elisabeth Bik, one of the whistleblowers working with Retraction Watch in my book, Female Disruptors: Stories of Mighty Female Scientists.
Rather than intimidating journals or politicizing science, we should be strengthening mechanisms for accountability like whistleblowing, independent review, and open discourse.
Science does not thrive under political intimidation, it thrives when it is free, transparent, and self-correcting.
What’s at Stake
Deregulation at any cost is not progress. It’s a profound risk to public health, environmental sustainability, and basic justice.
Environmental laws, civil rights offices, and scientific journals exist for a reason: to protect people, safeguard our environment, and ensure that decisions are based on evidence, not political expediency. When these institutions are weakened, real lives and communities are endangered.
The real cost of this agenda will not be measured in regulatory rollbacks or agency budget cuts. It will be measured in polluted air, contaminated water, unsafe food, weakened public trust, and avoidable harm to some of our most vulnerable communities.
Now is the time to stay informed, raise our voices, and defend the role of science, justice, and environmental protection in our society.
The cost of silence is simply too high.
If you want to track Executive Actions, visit the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities here.
Mindi Messmer, MS, PG, CG is an environmental and public health scientist and author of Female Disruptors: Stories of Mighty Female Scientists. The book is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and through your local bookstore.