Carolyn Holran epa spox

---

ACC CHEM?

---

ggl ai 10 25

Carolyn Holran, originally from Falls Church, Virginia, is the press secretary for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Administrator Lee Zeldin, appointed during a recent presidential administration. News reports from 2025 detail her role and statements on behalf of the agency.

Career and background

Education: Holran attended Flint Hill School in Oakton, Virginia, before graduating magna cum laude from St. Lawrence University with a degree in environmental studies and sociology.
Early career: After college, she held a position with Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA).
Kenya semester program: During her time at St. Lawrence, Holran spent a semester in Kenya, where she studied deforestation in the Mount Kilimanjaro region and fundraised for tree-planting initiatives.
EPA press secretary: By mid-2025, Holran was serving as the EPA's press secretary. In this role, she has been a public voice for the agency's policies under Administrator Zeldin, including during a government shutdown and in response to criticisms of political influence.

EPA actions and public statements

As EPA press secretary, Holran has made several public statements throughout 2025 addressing agency actions and controversies:

Defense of Administrator Zeldin: She has emphasized that the EPA operates under Administrator Zeldin's initiatives, such as the "Powering the Great American Comeback Initiative," which she says focuses on providing clean air, land, and water for all Americans.

Industry meetings: In response to questions about the frequency of EPA officials meeting with industry groups, Holran defended the meetings as a standard part of the regulatory process and emphasized that career staff are guided by science and the law.

Staff furlough criticism: When EPA employees were furloughed during a 2025 government shutdown, Holran issued a statement calling the suggestion that the EPA was being dismantled "inaccurate and unfair".

Laundry advice: She offered practical advice in an October 2025 article in Southern Living, explaining that doing laundry during off-peak energy hours can help reduce electricity costs.

---

NO LNX

E.P.A. Workers Warn Trump Is Politicizing Their Work

In a public letter, employees of the Environmental Protection Agency accused the administration of engaging in unlawful partisan activity and endangering public health.

The top complaint of the letter, addressed to the E.P.A. administrator Lee Zeldin, was that decisions had been made based on a political agenda, not on science and the law.Credit...Kenny Holston/The New York Times

By Maxine Joselow

Reporting from Washington

Published June 30, 2025

Updated July 3, 2025

More than 270 employees of the Environmental Protection Agency signed a letter on Monday denouncing what they described as the Trump administration’s efforts to politicize, dismantle and sideline the main federal agency tasked with protecting the environment and public health.

The letter to President Trump’s E.P.A. administrator, Lee Zeldin, was a remarkable rebuke of the agency’s political leadership. It followed a similar missive sent this month by more than 60 employees of the National Institutes of Health, who criticized orders they saw as illegal and unethical.

“E.P.A. employees join in solidarity with employees across the federal government in opposing this administration’s policies, including those that undermine the E.P.A. mission of protecting human health and the environment,” the E.P.A. workers wrote.

Asked for comment, E.P.A. spokeswoman Carolyn Holran wrote in an email: “The Trump E.P.A. will continue to work with states, tribes and communities to advance the agency’s core mission of protecting human health and the environment and Administrator Zeldin’s Powering the Great American Comeback Initiative, which includes providing clean air, land and water for EVERY American.”

The four-page document outlined five overarching concerns with the Trump administration’s approach to the E.P.A. The top complaint was that decisions had been made based on a political agenda, not on science and the law.

Recent E.P.A. news releases and newsletters have parroted some of Mr. Trump’s rhetoric on the environment, the letter said. For example, these materials have praised coal as “beautiful” and “clean.” Coal is the dirtiest of the fossil fuels and is a significant source of greenhouse gases. Statements from the E.P.A. have also routinely referred to climate grants issued under the Biden administration as a “green slush fund,” when there has been no evidence they were used for illicit purposes.

“I’ve never seen this kind of partisanship, even in the first Trump administration,” said Justin Chen, an environmental engineer in the E.P.A.’s Dallas-based Region 6 office who signed the letter. Mr. Chen emphasized that he was speaking in his personal capacity and not on behalf of his E.P.A. office.

In response to these allegations, Ms. Holran said the agency was “bound by laws established by Congress.”

The letter also criticized the proposed elimination of some E.P.A. divisions. For instance, Trump officials are considering shuttering the agency’s scientific research arm and firing as many as 1,155 of its chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other scientists.

The E.P.A. has already closed its environmental justice offices, which sought to help poor and minority communities that face disproportionate amounts of pollution. And since January, more than 1,400 E.P.A. employees have decided to leave the agency through early retirement or deferred resignation programs.

In addition, the letter aired concerns about Mr. Zeldin’s plans to repeal dozens of the nation’s most significant environmental rules, including limits on pollution from cars and power plants, protections for wetlands, and the scientific finding that allows the E.P.A. to regulate the greenhouse gases that are heating the planet.

The letter was organized by Stand Up for Science, a group that planned a March rally in Washington to protest the Trump administration’s steep cuts to federally funded scientific research. Of the 278 E.P.A. employee who signed the letter, 173 signed their names, while 105 signed anonymously for fear of retaliation.

“In Trump’s America, it is a brave thing to speak out in this way,” said Colette Delawalla, the founder and executive director of Stand Up for Science and a graduate student in psychology at Emory University.

“We have E.P.A. employees who are signing their full names, their offices, their regions, all of that,” Ms. Delawalla continued. “These are people who feel that this is so important that they’re willing to risk their careers to make sure that this information gets out to the public.”

Concerns about politicization at the E.P.A. have been building in recent weeks. Last week, a union representing E.P.A. staff members accused agency leaders of violating the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in political activities while they are on the job.

According to the complaint from the union, the American Federation of Government Employees Local 704, a weekly newsletter sent by Mr. Zeldin’s office violated the law by attacking Democratic lawmakers.

“Congressional Democrats are big mad because the Trump Administration is cutting off their gravy train,” said the newsletter’s May 30 edition.

An E.P.A. spokeswoman, Brigit Hirsch, said in an email that the director of the agency’s Ethics Office, Justina Fugh, had reviewed the newsletter and determined that it complied with the Hatch Act.

“Not surprised to see the New York Times getting caught up in another wild goose chase,” Ms. Hirsch said. “Each week, E.P.A. solicits career employees’ input while putting together the newsletter. Administrator Zeldin will never apologize for defending taxpayer dollars and listening to the will of the American people.”

Maxine Joselow reports on climate policy for The Times.

A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 15 of the New York edition with the headline: In Unusual Rebuke, Workers at E.P.A. Warn Trump Is Politicizing Their Work. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

See more on: Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Politics, Donald Trump

---

::EWG

Top regulatory officials met with agricultural and chemical industry representatives dozens of times in the first few months after President Donald Trump took office in January, government records show — meetings that were followed by a series of regulatory rollbacks and a downplaying of pesticide concerns by the administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) Commission.

From February to mid-May, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) leaders accepted meetings with representatives from at least 50 industry associations and companies, including agricultural and chemical giants such as Bayer, Corteva, BASF, Dow and the agrichemical lobbying group CropLife America, as well as the American Soybean Association, the National Cotton Council and others.

The meetings also included energy giants like ExxonMobil, Phillips 66, and companies working in plastics or chemical production such as Occidental Chemical Corporation. Some scheduled meetings involved representatives from multiple companies and their legal counsel or lobbyists.

Notably, the industry meetings involved formerindustry insiders who now are in top positions at the EPA: Nancy Beck, formerly an executive at the American Chemistry Council who is now the EPA’s principal deputy assistant administrator in theOffice of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, and Lynn Ann Dekleva, who previously worked at DuPont and as a lobbyist at the American Chemistry Council and is now the deputy assistant administrator of the same EPA office.

See the scheduled meetings here:

January and March Calendars

February Calendars

April Calendars

April (continued) and May Calendars

Beck worked in the first Trump administration’s EPA as well,leading efforts to remove or water down chemical regulations.

Beck’s meetings with agricultural interests included a March meeting regarding the pesticide dicamba with then-lobbyist Kyle Kunkler. In June, Kunkler joined the EPA to work alongside Dekleva and Beck.

The EPA records, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, show meetings with environmental and health groups were nearly absent from Beck and Dekleva’s calendars, other than meetings with the American Dental Association and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

The records cover January through early May and only show invited attendees, not meeting minutes or issues discussed.

A MAHA makeover

Critics of the agrichemical industry said corporate influence in regulatory matters was underscored earlier this month when the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) Commission released its long-anticipatedreport on how to address chronic disease and clean up the food supply.

The final version was significantly more friendly to the agricultural industry thana May MAHA report that cited the health risks posed by the widely used farm chemicals glyphosate and atrazine. The September report took aim at synthetic dyes and junk food, among other things, but deleted references to glyphosate and atrazine and made no mention of pesticide exposure routes or risks.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, has long railed against certain farm chemicals, calling them “poison,” but in a press conference discussing the September MAHA report,Kennedy evaded questions about the omission of pesticide dangers in the report.

Critics say the changes and omissions were seemingly in direct response to lobbying from major agricultural groups, as some sections in the report used policy languagesought by CropLife.

Additionally, the MayMAHA report blamed industry influence in the federal government for Americans’ high exposure to toxic chemicals, citing data that in 2023, about 60% of chemical-sector lobbyists had previously held federal posts.

However, the final report released this month eliminated language from the first report criticizing corporate influence over research, regulators and lawmakers as factors contributing to chronic health problems in the US.

The FOIA records show that on April 11, Beck was invited to attend weekly MAHA meetings, “to align on policy priorities and plans,” according to the meeting descriptions.

Agricultural organizationspraised the September report and the MAHA Commission’s “vision,” welcoming the report’s “strong emphasis on aligning agriculture, nutrition, and environmental sustainability to promote a healthier future for America’s children.”

But environmental health advocates had the opposite view.

“When Croplife praises the report, we know something’s wrong,” said Emily Marquez, senior scientist with the Pesticide Action & Agroecology Network (PAN).

EPA defends meetings

...Most companies did not respond to requests to comment about the meetings. A Bayer spokesman said in a statement that the company regularly meets with the EPA and other federal agencies as part of the regulatory process.

“Some of these meetings are required by law. Such interactions are not limited to registrant companies and many other groups including NGOs similarly interface with regulatory agencies,” Bayer said.

EPA spokeswoman Carolyn Holran said that questions about the number of meetings with industry groups and potential industry influence over policymaking were insulting to Beck and Dekleva.

“As EPA officials, Dr. Beck and Dr. Dekleva meet with a wide variety of stakeholders on issues within EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention jurisdictions,” Holran said. “[They] remain committed to being led by the science and the law — unlike Biden EPA appointees with major ethical issues that were beholden to radical groups — as they work to Power the Great American Comeback.”

“As EPA officials, Dr. Beck and Dr. Dekleva meet with a wide variety of stakeholders on issues within EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention jurisdictions.” – Carolyn Holran, EPA

The records show that on at least one occasion, Beck did skip a meeting with her former employer, the American Chemistry Council.

“I’m recused so will skip this one. Enjoy!” she wrote on March 14 to Travis Voyles, the EPA’s associate deputy administrator, who was meeting with Ryan Jackson, vice president of federal affairs with the council. That same day she had a meeting with the chemical company Balchem.

Tracey Woodruff, director of the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment at the University of California, San Francisco, said she wasn’t surprised about Beck’s meeting schedule over the first few months. “We’re seeing unfettered industry access to all the decision-making around things like toxic chemicals and pesticides. It’s beyond anything we’ve already seen.”

In January, Woodruff and others affiliated with UCSF launched the Center to End Corporate Harm, to develop strategies to “counter the destructive influence of polluters and poisoners.”

While the calendars do not detail what was discussed in these meetings, since Trump took office, the EPA has rolled back multiple environmental regulations that industry has long railed against, includingdropping drinking water limits on four types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS),walking back a proposal to limit water pollution from meat and poultry plants,delaying stricter emissions rules at steel and coke plants, planning toeliminate its science research arm,rescinding the basis for greenhouse gas regulations,easing regulations on farmers using insecticides, amongdozens of other planned rollbacks.

Author

Brian Bienkowski

Brian Bienkowski is the Managing Editor at The New Lede. He is a veteran reporter and editor, and has been awarded both local and national awards for his health and environmental reporting. He is a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists.

---

politico

Sitting duck’? Meet an EPA environmental justice staffer.

By Sean Reilly, Ellie Borst | 06/04/2025

The Trump administration’s gutting of diversity programs highlights a seeming paradox of vows to deliver clean air, land and water for “every American.”

Swati Rayasam, an EPA environmental protection specialist based in the San Francisco Bay Area, was notified in February that she was being placed on administrative leave with a potentially permanent layoff due to environmental justice-affiliated work for the agency. Sharada Prasad

Swati Rayasam knew her job at EPA would be upended. She just didn’t expect it to happen so soon.

“You are receiving this email because you have been identified as an EPA employee working in ‘environmental justice’ or a diversity, equity, and inclusion position and/or office,” the Feb. 6 message read.

Rayasam, an environmental protection specialist based in the San Francisco Bay Area, was immediately placed on paid administrative leave. Now threatened with a potentially permanent layoff, she’s one of hundreds of EPA employees facing dismissal or reassignment in a purge without precedent.

For Rayasam, it likely spells the end of a career begun only a year and a half ago. But the episode also highlights a seeming paradox at the heart of the Trump administration’s agenda as EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin highlights the importance of clean air, land and water for “every American.”

That, says Rayasam, is exactly what her job entailed.

With a background in ensuring that the laws apply “to all the people that live in this country,” she said in one of several video interviews with POLITICO’s E&E News, “I really saw the opportunity at the Office of Environmental Justice to make that a reality.”

Zeldin has axed Raysam’s job, as part of a drive to abolish EPA’s entire Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights.

That’s in line with President Donald Trump’s day one executive order to end initiatives related to diversity, equity and inclusion, which Trump has characterized as a form of reverse discrimination. Zeldin has described the move as “elimination of forced discrimination programs.” At EPA and other agencies, the administration has proceeded with implementation of the White House’s directive at striking speed.

Trump’s and Zeldin’s stances represent “the larger political discourse … and a fundamental misunderstanding of what environmental justice is,” Rayasam said.

Trump’s executive orders, for example, skate over the abundant studies showing that people of color and low-income communities are more likely to face exposure to dangerous pollution. By Rayasam’s description, environmental justice is woven by law into the work of EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, perennially swamped with reviews of new chemicals before they can go on the market.

That misunderstanding has left her, a public health scientist focused on chemicals policy, as “just a sitting duck,” she said.

Instead of doing a job where she mostly worked in tandem with the chemicals office, Rayasam now sits in limbo as her agency ID card gathers dust.

Her plight is emblematic of the whiplash accompanying the transition from President Joe Biden’s administration, which put an unparalleled emphasis on environmental justice, to Trump’s.

‘Too much work’

Her looming ouster results from Zeldin’s insistence that EPA circumscribe its activities only to those authorized by statute.

By his reading, that means EPA needs to reassign at least 100 staffers elsewhere within the agency to help clear the backlog of new chemicals awaiting review by the chemical safety office.

Major amendments passed to the Toxic Substances Control Act in 2016 created a new requirement for regulators to make a safety determination on each new chemical before it is allowed into the market, which industry trade groups complain has created significant wait times impeding the nation’s innovation and manufacturing capabilities.

The new TSCA amendments also require the agency to rein in dangerous uses of some of the most notorious industrial mainstays, such as asbestos or formaldehyde. The statute spells out the factors EPA must consider when deciding which existing substances will be prioritized for review, including consideration of “potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulations.”

Rayasam said that’s a “pretty explicit” example of a statute mandating environmental justice practices, and factoring in population and exposure variability is a relatively new priority for EPA.

That’s where the environmental justice office staffers stepped in, she said.

“EPA has always had too much work,” Rayasam said. “So [the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights] provided a breath of fresh air, to be able to say … ‘You have all these people working to assist [the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention] on a specific thing that we’re trying to achieve. Not just because the administration thinks it’s important, but because the statute and statutory amendments actually call for it.'”

Take formaldehyde, for example.

It’s a compound fiercely defended by industry trade groups as critical for sterilizing medical devices and for the production of various building materials or consumer products.

But inhalation of its fumes can lead to cancer, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and other serious long-term illnesses. Communities surrounding formaldehyde manufacturing plants are among the populations at risk for associated chronic illnesses, according to EPA’s final risk evaluation for formaldehyde.

Part of Rayasam’s job was to make sure EPA’s scientific assessments considered the impacts on largely overlooked — and highly exposed — communities in chemical risk assessments, such as formaldehyde exposure for people living in mobile homes.

“All the work that I did was also in the interest of EPA using the best available, most robust science that considered all the communities that it was required to consider, including [potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulations],” she said.

‘An ounce of prevention’

Environmental justice, according to a 1998 EPA definition, “means that no group of people should bear a disproportionate burden of environmental harms and risks, including those resulting from the negative environmental consequences of industrial, governmental, and commercial operations or programs and policies.”

According to Zeldin, environmental justice is “the desire is that these people or communities that have been left behind deserve and need attention to be able to remediate and deal with an environmental issue.”

“I couldn’t possibly agree with that definition more,” he said at a conference in March.

But Zeldin works for a president who has methodically razed decades of work to weave environmental justice into the fabric of the federal government’s day-to-day business.

And during various media appearances, Zeldin has blamed the Biden administration for losing sight of that core bipartisan goal and has targeted environmental justice work “as an excuse to fund left-wing activists” who diagnose what the problem is instead of on direct remediation of the issue.

In response to questions, EPA press secretary Carolyn Holran reemphasized Zeldin’s past comments, adding, “the Trump EPA is focused on providing clean air, land, and water for every American regardless of race, gender, creed, and background. … And we’ll do it without wasting billions in taxpayer dollars on left-wing activist giveaways.”

But Rayasam said Zeldin’s assessment overlooks the importance of preventing exposures before they happen.

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” she said.

Raised in Durham, North Carolina, Rayasam grew up about an hour’s drive from Warren County, a primarily Black enclave where 1982 landfill protests are seen as a pivotal force in launching the environmental justice movement nationally.

She got degrees in biology and global health, then worked for almost five years in a program on reproductive health and the environment at the University of California, San Francisco. She started at EPA in November 2023.

“People thought I was going to come in like a hammer, basically, for EJ communities,” Rayasam said. “The first thing I would say to literally anybody is ‘You guys have a mountain of work, and I’m just here to try to figure out how to help you get it done. I’m here to pitch in, I would never ask people to modify anything that I was not willing to put my own skin in.'”

Joining Rayasam on the calls with E&E News were attorneys from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a worker advocacy group representing her and other idled environmental justice staffers in a complaint filed in April with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, an ostensibly independent agency charged with enforcing federal workforce safeguards.

The complaint seeks to force EPA to put them all back to work partly on the grounds that federal law limits administrative leave to no more than 10 days per year. The special counsel’s office is now investigating, according to Laura Dumais, staff counsel for PEER.

A spokesperson for the special counsel’s office declined to comment.

In February, Trump fired the office’s chief, Hampton Dellinger, a Biden administration appointee who had been contesting the push to cashier thousands of probationary workers throughout the government. In Dellinger’s place, Trump named Jamieson Greer as acting head. Greer, who is also serving as U.S. trade representative, quickly dropped the inquiry into the firings. Trump last week said he was tapping Paul Ingrassia, a former right-wing podcast host, to lead the office.

“It really looks like the OSC is now under new management,” Dumais said. “It just really highlights the importance of an OSC that’s not controlled directly by the executive branch.”

*Sean Reilly and Ellie Borst can be reached on Signal at SeanReilly.70 and eborst.64.

---

carolyn-holran

Experience

Press SecretaryPress Secretary US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) · Full-timeUS Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) · Full-timeMay 2025 - Present · 6 mosMay 2025 to Present · 6 mos

United States SenateUnited States Senate Full-time · 2 yrs 4 mosFull-time · 2 yrs 4 mos

Press Secretary, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) Press Secretary, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) Feb 2025 - May 2025 · 4 mosFeb 2025 to May 2025 · 4 mos
- Deputy Press Secretary, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA)Deputy Press Secretary, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) Jan 2024 - Feb 2025 · 1 yr 2 mosJan 2024 to Feb 2025 · 1 yr 2 mos
- Press Assistant, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA)Press Assistant, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) Feb 2023 - Jan 2024 · 1 yrFeb 2023 to Jan 2024 · 1 yrWashington, District of Columbia, United StatesWashington, District of Columbia, United States

PLUS CommunicationsPLUS Communications Full-time · 1 yr 9 mosFull-time · 1 yr 9 mosArlington, Virginia, United StatesArlington, Virginia, United States

Senior Associate Public Affairs Senior Associate Public Affairs Sep 2022 - Feb 2023 · 6 mosSep 2022 to Feb 2023 · 6 mos
- Public Affairs AssociatePublic Affairs Associate Jun 2021 - Sep 2022 · 1 yr 4 mosJun 2021 to Sep 2022 · 1 yr 4 mos

Co Founder S.H.I.E.L.D. Wellness and Performance Co Founder S.H.I.E.L.D. Wellness and Performance St. Lawrence UniversitySt. Lawrence UniversityJan 2019 - May 2021 · 2 yrs 5 mosJan 2019 to May 2021 · 2 yrs 5 mosAthletic Department Athletic Department

- - The purpose is to identify resources and create programing to assist with student-athletes wellness & performance, leadership development, academic excellence and personal growth
Created and conducted an IRB approved survey that was sent out to all student-athletes
Serve as liaison between student-athlete and athletic administrators
Lead meetings/ focus groups comprising of student-athletes and faculty/ staff - The purpose is to identify resources and create programing to assist with student-athletes wellness & performance, leadership development, academic excellence and personal growth - Created and conducted an IRB approved survey that was sent out to all student-athletes - Serve as liaison between student-athlete and athletic administrators - Lead meetings/ focus groups comprising of student-athletes and faculty/ staff …see more

InternIntern National Democratic Institute (NDI) · Full-timeNational Democratic Institute (NDI) · Full-timeNov 2019 - Nov 2019 · 1 moNov 2019 to Nov 2019 · 1 moNairobi County, KenyaNairobi County, Kenya

Home | National Democratic Institute

EducationEducation

St. Lawrence UniversitySt. Lawrence University Bachelor of Arts - BA, Environmental Studies & Sociology, Minor Public HealthBachelor of Arts - BA, Environmental Studies & Sociology, Minor Public HealthAug 2017 - Apr 2021Aug 2017 - Apr 2021

Activities and societies: Varsity Softball Team,

Chi Omega,

Student Athletic Advisory Council Softball Rep

Activities and societies: Varsity Softball Team, Chi Omega, Student Athletic Advisory Council Softball Rep …see more

- - Graduated Magna Cum Laude | Daniel E. Sullivan Athletic Leadership and Community Service Award 2021Graduated Magna Cum Laude | Daniel E. Sullivan Athletic Leadership and Community Service Award 2021

Flint Hill SchoolFlint Hill School 2004 - 20172004 - 2017

Interests...

More profiles for you

Bethany Stevens

NASA Press SecretaryNASA Press Secretary

Nora Scott

Deputy Scheduler for the United States SenateDeputy Scheduler for the United States Senate

Molly (Block) Vaseliou

Communications Director at U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA)Communications Director at U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA)

Chavonne Ludick

Audrey Cook

U.S. Senator Marsha BlackburnU.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn

Mary Kate K.

· 3rd+3rd+ degree connection

Deputy Press Secretary for U.S. Senator John CornynDeputy Press Secretary for U.S. Senator John Cornyn

Audrey Barr

· 3rd+3rd+ degree connection

Press Secretary at United States SenatePress Secretary at United States Senate

Annie Summerhays

Press Secretary at United States SenatePress Secretary at United States Senate

Courtney Corrado

Press Secretary for United States Senator Tim ScottPress Secretary for United States Senator Tim Scott

William Comer

Press Secretary at United States SenatePress Secretary at United States Senate

Paloma Chacon

Press Secretary for the Department of Homeland SecurityPress Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security

Olivia Coleman

Press Secretary for the Director of National IntelligencePress Secretary for the Director of National Intelligence

Samara St. John

· 3rd+3rd+ degree connection

Press Secretary at United States SenatePress Secretary at United States Senate

Joe Ramallo

Communications Director for U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D.Communications Director for U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D.

Grace Evans

Communications Director at United States SenateCommunications Director at United States Senate

Aimee Titus

· 3rd+3rd+ degree connection

Deputy Press Secretary- Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS)Deputy Press Secretary- Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS)

Joey Perras

Body Man | U.S. Senator Mark KellyBody Man | U.S. Senator Mark Kelly

Elise Saloom

· 3rd+3rd+ degree connection

Socko StrategiesSocko Strategies

Jerry Calengor

· 3rd+3rd+ degree connection

Director of Rapid Response

Office of the Speaker of the United States House of RepresentativesDirector of Rapid Response Office of the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

Hannah Akey

· 3rd+3rd+ degree connection

Press Secretary - U.S. Senate Judiciary CommitteePress Secretary - U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee

---

xitter

X · CCHolran 40+ followers

2025 quickly took a tragic turn in New Orleans. Instead of waking up to a Happy New Year, we are grieving the loss of innocent lives and praying for all ...

---

Carolyn-Holran-100013335215270

[### Carolyn Holran

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com › Carolyn-Holran-10001333...](https://www.facebook.com/p/Carolyn-Holran-100013335215270/)

Carolyn Holran is on Facebook. Join Facebook to connect with Carolyn Holran and others you may know. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes...

[### Carolyn Holran - Scholar

St. Lawrence University

https://scholar.stlawu.edu › carolyn-holran](https://scholar.stlawu.edu/carolyn-holran)

Carolyn Holran. Class Year: Class of 2021. Major: Environmental Studies · Sociology. Projects. Helping to Fight Climate Change and Save a Way of Life One Mile ...

plant trees?

Series:

2015-2022 - Travel Experiences

Semester:

Fall 2019

Description

I spent the fall semester of the 2019-2020 school year on the Kenya Semester Program. As an environmental major, I had learned about the effect that deforestation was having in the Mount Kilimanjaro region to both the environment and the people. One of the biggest issues that deforestation causes is a reduction of participation on the mountain, which reduces the snowfall and therefore reduced Glacier. The Glacier run off provides a steady source of water to the surrounding areas, but as they are being reduced so is the water that is coming off the mountain. While in Kenyan I got to talk and live with the people being affected by this. I got to learn from a pastoralist community that is being forced to change their lifestyle to agriculture because there is just not enough water for their livestock to survive.

Missing: falls ‎church ‎virginia

---

storm falls church va

Education

St. Lawrence University - BA, environmental studies and sociology, magna cum laude (2017-2021)

Activities and notes: Minor in public health; varsity softball team; Daniel E. Sullivan Athletic Leadership and Community Service Award*

Flint Hill School (Oakton, Va.) - High school diploma (2004-2017)

Greek Organizations:

Chi Omega Fraternity

Employment History

Sen. Bill Cassidy (**R**-LA) (Feb. 2025-May 2025)

Press Secretary

Sen. Bill Cassidy (**R**-LA) (Jan. 2024-Jan. 2025)

Deputy Press Secretary

Sen. Bill Cassidy (**R**-LA) (Feb. 2023-Jan. 2024)

Press Assistant

PLUS Communications LLC (Sept. 2022-Feb. 2023)

PLUS Communications LLC has lobbied the U.S. government.

*Senior Public Affairs Associate

PLUS Communications is a Beltway-based consulting firm specializing in coalition building, grassroots mobilization, advertising, digital engagement, message development and media relations. Distinguished for our campaign-style approach to issue-based efforts, we bring a results-oriented mindset to every project: You either win or lose. Period.

PLUS Communications was founded in 2011 by three of the nation’s top political and public affairs strategists after working together on dozens of hard-fought campaigns. Today, the firm employees more than 80 professionals, including 14 partners with unrivaled experience representing Fortune 100 companies, trade associations and non-profit organizations across a host of industries. close

Strategy Execution = Results

PLUS Communications is a full-service firm specializing in bi-partisan public affairs, strategic communications and advertising campaigns that win. We have all the tools to reach your audiences and inspire them to action.

Our Approach

Public Affairs

Grassroots + Grasstops

Digital Advocacy

Coalition Building

Polling

Research + Competitive Intelligence

Regulatory Advisory

Strategic Communications

Media Relations

Owned Media

Crisis Communications

Thought Leadership

Mergers + Acquisitions

Litigation Communications

Advertising + Creative

In-House Video Production

Integrated Media Buying

Web Development

Branding + Graphic Design

Our Team

We deliver results with 200 PLUS public affairs professionals who include former government officials, corporate communications executives, association leaders, non-profit professionals and news media veterans.

Meet The Team

Meet Our Partner Companies

Cutting-edge companies deepen our offerings, from digital advocacy to media buying to polling and research.

Learn More

Speak4

Fusion

peak-insights_logo--full

Our Work

See All

Through our work with the America First Steel Alliance, PLUS reshaped the national conversation around the partnership’s economic, national security and industrial importance, ultimately contributing to the public and political dialogue that paved the way for the deal’s approval and strengthening the future of American steelmaking and manufacturing for decades to come.

Through a full-spectrum campaign integrating public affairs, media relations, advertising and grassroots mobilization, PLUS helped the Invest in Education Coalition turn the Educational Choice for Children Act from a long-shot bill into the first-ever federal school choice law – delivering a landmark victory for more than one million students and families nationwide and making Parental Independence Day a reality.

COVID-19 posed a serious risk to nursing home residents. To secure necessary funding and resources to help long term care facilities combat the pandemic, AHCA/NCAL and PLUS employed an “all-of-the-above” communications strategy.

PLUS Communications worked with the Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing (CSRxP) — a broad-based coalition of physicians, nurses, hospitals, consumers, health plans, PBMs, pharmacists, and businesses — to counteract this industry’s powerful influence in Washington, keep the national drug pricing conversation focused on holding brand name drug companies accountable and advance bipartisan solutions to lower prescription drug prices.

The hotel industry has long recognized the critical role it plays in ending the scourge of trafficking, including by providing their employees with training to identify and report instances of human trafficking. Yet, despite this long-standing commitment, there was little public awareness about the industry’s leadership and work to train their employees in trafficking prevention.

The pandemic presented an unimaginable challenge to U.S. small businesses. The Connected Commerce Council (3C) and PLUS developed a COVID-19 response strategy to help small businesses stay afloat by providing resources and opportunities for support and connection.

As short-term-rental properties such as Airbnb skirted tax laws that hotels are held accountable to and began destroying neighborhoods by spiking rent prices, PLUS launched successful campaigns in major cities across the country to show local leaders the urgency in properly regulating short-term-rentals.

When FWD.us set out to reform Louisiana’s criminal justice system, which was previously referred to as the “prison capital of the world,” PLUS helped launch a surround sound public affairs campaign that resulted in the governor signing of 10 reform bills. Our work with FWD.us was awarded PRWeek’s “Public Affairs Campaign of the Year.”

When the Corn Refiners Association decided it was time to update their brand to better position them to achieve their strategic goals, PLUS’ team managed the entire effort: creating a new logo, website, office materials and much more.

For years, America’s biofuels industry has battled the monolithic oil industry’s attempts to block consumers from accessing environmentally friendly, homegrown biofuels. PLUS has reframed the narrative around ethanol and continues to shape policies that drive innovation and growth of biofuels.

In an attempt to battle the meth crisis, many states across the country tried to enact laws that focused on punishing honest consumers rather than criminals. These laws would severely limit consumer’s ability to access cold and allergy medicines they rely on. Over the last seven years, PLUS has successfully defeated dozens of restrictive laws and passed many favorable alternatives.

Become a PLUS Pro

Take your career to the next level doing work that matters with the best team in the business – and competitive benefits to fuel your success.

Careers

The Latest

See All

AI Innovator Ryan Dysart

Blog

Move Over, SEO: There’s A New Optimization In Town.

Blog

How our Field Partnerships Drive Success: Inside PLUS’ 2025 Allies Conference

Blog

PLUS Communications’ Summer Travels

Blog

PLUS Communications Celebrates 21 Promotions

Blog

Training Tomorrow’s Public Affairs Leaders: PLUS Communications’ 2025 Request for Proposal (RFP) Summer Project

Blog

Our Offices

Headquarters

3001 Washington Blvd, 7th Floor

Arlington, VA 22201

Richmond

11 S 12th Street, Office 100A

Richmond, VA 23219

Austin

828 W. 6th Street

Austin, TX 78703

PLUS@pluspr.com

(202) 886-1221

About Services Partner Companies Team Careers Case Studies The Latest Contact

Website:https://fp1.com/

Organization Description:

FP1 Strategies is committed to crafting and driving research-based, strategic messages combined with the execution of creative, focused and tested tactics to accomplish the needs of each client. The bottom line: we win the tough fights.

Our Team

Corry Bliss

Partner

Jon Conradi

Partner

Danny Diaz

Founding & Managing Partner

Jon Downs

Founding & Managing Partner

Rob Jesmer

Managing Partner

Annie Kelly Kuhle

Partner

Jake LaTurner

Partner

Jim Landry

Partner

Terry Nelson

Founding & Managing Partner

Mark Walpole

Partner

Trent Wisecup

Partner & Creative Director

Mike Young

Partner

Jackie Kaiser

Managing Director

Maddy Karon

Managing Director

Kyle Klase

Managing Director

Dylan Lefler

Managing Director

Michelle Neuman

Managing Director

Andrew Quinn

Managing Director

Mariah Wood

Managing Director

Lara Veit

Managing Director, Advertising

Nick Gay

Managing Director

Evan Albertson

Senior Director

Mattie Beckis

Senior Director

Chris Cordova

Senior Director

Alex Foster

Director

Gretchen Kepley

Director

Marianne Martin

Travel Coordinator

Courtney McLeod

Director

Jon Allen

Manager

Reagan Brewer

Senior Associate

Graydon Davies

Associate

Lyukai Nomura

Associate

Zach Stein

Senior Associate

Jacob Buckley

Associate

Teddy Merritt

Associate

---

OMFG HEATED EMILY

NO TBL ANNO SEE MERCURY

gmail 10 25

The Environmental Protection Agency’s work protecting clean air and water is grinding to a halt.

As the government shutdown enters its fourth week, thousands of EPA workers (https://substack.com/redirect/563558e5-6d97-4cee-8973-7a77a7d1470b?j=eyJ1IjoiMW42ZTYifQ.vyvZ_z0oLghKX6Zag1WJ71bIfqAlxqUD_SD6A_ZPsUM) are receiving notice they’ll be sent home. Furlough notices are “widespread” across the EPA, E&E News reported on Monday (https://substack.com/redirect/4b92c259-7aee-45fb-99b4-0e607c20f64b?j=eyJ1IjoiMW42ZTYifQ.vyvZ_z0oLghKX6Zag1WJ71bIfqAlxqUD_SD6A_ZPsUM), “including a large percentage of staffers in EPA’s air and water offices.”

The exact number of furloughed EPA employees is about 4,000 (https://substack.com/redirect/563558e5-6d97-4cee-8973-7a77a7d1470b?j=eyJ1IjoiMW42ZTYifQ.vyvZ_z0oLghKX6Zag1WJ71bIfqAlxqUD_SD6A_ZPsUM), or about 27 percent of the agency’s workforce, Politico reported. The agency would not confirm or deny that number. (Asked for details about which EPA employees have been sent home, the EPA’s press secretary refused (https://substack.com/redirect/200e8af3-688d-45c8-b514-7c34ecea0a2a?j=eyJ1IjoiMW42ZTYifQ.vyvZ_z0oLghKX6Zag1WJ71bIfqAlxqUD_SD6A_ZPsUM), telling Inside Climate News it was “a ridiculous question to ask.”)

(https://substack.com/redirect/f71f61d9-ecd8-426d-9278-3870b439daa1?j=eyJ1IjoiMW42ZTYifQ.vyvZ_z0oLghKX6Zag1WJ71bIfqAlxqUD_SD6A_ZPsUM)

More employees are likely to be sent home as the shutdown continues. The Trump administration’s latest shutdown contingency plan considers nearly 90 percent of the EPA’s workforce (https://substack.com/redirect/3c94e865-e3d2-4401-a91a-9fad29052bc7?j=eyJ1IjoiMW42ZTYifQ.vyvZ_z0oLghKX6Zag1WJ71bIfqAlxqUD_SD6A_ZPsUM) to be “non-essential” or “partially essential,” and therefore eligible for furlough. “Many activities will halt, including research and the publication of research results, and the issuance of new grants, contracts and permits,” theLos Angeles Timesreported (https://substack.com/redirect/3c94e865-e3d2-4401-a91a-9fad29052bc7?j=eyJ1IjoiMW42ZTYifQ.vyvZ_z0oLghKX6Zag1WJ71bIfqAlxqUD_SD6A_ZPsUM). “Critically, civil enforcement inspections—on-site visits to facilities to check their compliance with environmental regulations—will also cease.”

Furloughs are also just the latest blow to the EPA’s workforce. Before the shutdown, 4,000 EPA employees had already been fired or had taken a buyout (https://substack.com/redirect/b92e7773-3533-4d74-85e4-02fcd4c8b4cc?j=eyJ1IjoiMW42ZTYifQ.vyvZ_z0oLghKX6Zag1WJ71bIfqAlxqUD_SD6A_ZPsUM). The agency’s climate offices and its scientific research arm (https://substack.com/redirect/ca431d5c-d714-4622-9205-7d2f9437a775?j=eyJ1IjoiMW42ZTYifQ.vyvZ_z0oLghKX6Zag1WJ71bIfqAlxqUD_SD6A_ZPsUM) are also in the process of being disbanded (https://substack.com/redirect/91db77d3-cd06-4e44-bc83-63b75b9cfeb2?j=eyJ1IjoiMW42ZTYifQ.vyvZ_z0oLghKX6Zag1WJ71bIfqAlxqUD_SD6A_ZPsUM). And the bleeding is expected to continue if and when the government reopens; The Trump administration has proposed a 55 percent cut to EPA funding in its 2026 budget request.

But there is at least one group of EPA employees who the Trump administration considers “essential,” and are still on the job: the people making it legal for coal plants to release more mercury into the environment.

Upgrade to paid (https://substack.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.gB95fkPWNpAJP1M2pG4CGlMezB2Nc6eX21PuG8EAj3E?&utm_medium=email&utm_source=subscribe-widget&utm_content=176674139)

The detail was first reported Friday by Lisa Friedman at theNew York Times (https://substack.com/redirect/5dc6868c-f1c8-4a3b-be7c-3092648549a5?j=eyJ1IjoiMW42ZTYifQ.vyvZ_z0oLghKX6Zag1WJ71bIfqAlxqUD_SD6A_ZPsUM).Despite the widespread stoppage of climate, environmental and public health work during the shutdown, she reported, “the workers responsible for carrying out the president’s plans for more fossil fuels and less wind and solar power are still hard at work.”

Specifically, at the EPA, Friedman reported that “employees are finalizing a plan to allow more mercury emissions from coal plants, according to two people familiar with the work underway.”

Friedman is referring to Trump’s plan torepeal the 2024 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) (https://substack.com/redirect/32de8db6-f940-4222-bf09-cf587cf9d121?j=eyJ1IjoiMW42ZTYifQ.vyvZ_z0oLghKX6Zag1WJ71bIfqAlxqUD_SD6A_ZPsUM) rule. The 2024 MATS rule, implemented by the Biden administration, strengthened older pollution regulations (https://substack.com/redirect/3747b588-6910-4437-ba49-98a6cdecff0a?j=eyJ1IjoiMW42ZTYifQ.vyvZ_z0oLghKX6Zag1WJ71bIfqAlxqUD_SD6A_ZPsUM) on coal- and oil-fired power plants. In addition to placing stricter limits on mercury pollution, the 2024 rule required coal companies to install systems that continually monitor emissions. It also eliminated a loophole that allowed coal plants to exceed pollution limits when starting up.

In June, Trump’s EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced plans to repeal the strengthened mercury regulations (https://substack.com/redirect/e288410b-de38-4d57-ac3f-777ae35e4b28?j=eyJ1IjoiMW42ZTYifQ.vyvZ_z0oLghKX6Zag1WJ71bIfqAlxqUD_SD6A_ZPsUM), arguing they were created only to kill the coal industry. “The primary purpose of these Biden-Harris administration regulations was to destroy industries that didn’t align with their narrow-minded climate change zealotry,” Zeldin said in a statement (https://substack.com/redirect/135d9c80-6ae7-4d0d-b7e1-46845de4b224?j=eyJ1IjoiMW42ZTYifQ.vyvZ_z0oLghKX6Zag1WJ71bIfqAlxqUD_SD6A_ZPsUM).

In reality, the regulations were designed to protect kids from being poisoned. Mercury is a highly dangerous neurotoxin that causes developmental problems in infants and damages children’s brains. No amount of exposure is safe (https://substack.com/redirect/d05c0dbe-e743-4bb6-b0d4-4b0079373698?j=eyJ1IjoiMW42ZTYifQ.vyvZ_z0oLghKX6Zag1WJ71bIfqAlxqUD_SD6A_ZPsUM).

Once emitted by coal plants into the air, mercury then settles into waterways, contaminates fish, and lingers in ecosystems for decades. Mercury pollution from coal plants is the primary reason why tuna and swordfish are considered unsafe for pregnant and other vulnerable people to consume.

One recent study estimated (https://substack.com/redirect/afe55720-b29e-40d7-8e09-c15c58466243?j=eyJ1IjoiMW42ZTYifQ.vyvZ_z0oLghKX6Zag1WJ71bIfqAlxqUD_SD6A_ZPsUM) that emissions from coal are costing Americans $13 billion to $26 billion per year in additional ER visits, strokes and cardiac events, and a greater prevalence and severity of childhood asthma events. That’s why the EPA has spent decades reducing mercury pollution.

But now, even with the government closed, Trump and Zeldin are racing to let coal plants release more mercury into the air. And they’re doing it for one reason: Because the coal industry asked them to.

Trump loves to talk about how he’s bringing back “clean” coal. As he infamously said in his speech to the U.N. last month (https://substack.com/redirect/7568a703-4b40-4ea8-8722-d9ba7a65828c?j=eyJ1IjoiMW42ZTYifQ.vyvZ_z0oLghKX6Zag1WJ71bIfqAlxqUD_SD6A_ZPsUM), ”I have a little standing order in the White House: Never use the word coal. Only use the words: Clean, beautiful coal. Sounds much better, doesn’t it?”

But “clean” coal doesn’t exist (https://substack.com/redirect/c4d25665-48cc-4f08-a042-d3b91e62da0f?j=eyJ1IjoiMW42ZTYifQ.vyvZ_z0oLghKX6Zag1WJ71bIfqAlxqUD_SD6A_ZPsUM). And even if it did, it wouldn’t describe what Trump and Zeldin are bringing back.

For the last year, coal companies have been explicitly asking Trump to make coal dirtier—and Trump has been complying. Back in March, Trump’s EPA sent a blast notification to coal companies, telling them if they wanted to be exempted from pollution requirements like the mercury standard, all they had to do was ask (https://substack.com/redirect/bc2774fe-e266-4702-88d2-eb03505dd20e?j=eyJ1IjoiMW42ZTYifQ.vyvZ_z0oLghKX6Zag1WJ71bIfqAlxqUD_SD6A_ZPsUM).

The EPA even provided an email template that coal companies could use to make their request.

(https://substack.com/redirect/541a8aec-c239-4cba-97c4-26c4e359cd8b?j=eyJ1IjoiMW42ZTYifQ.vyvZ_z0oLghKX6Zag1WJ71bIfqAlxqUD_SD6A_ZPsUM)

A New York Times article (https://substack.com/redirect/bc2774fe-e266-4702-88d2-eb03505dd20e?j=eyJ1IjoiMW42ZTYifQ.vyvZ_z0oLghKX6Zag1WJ71bIfqAlxqUD_SD6A_ZPsUM) describes the process by which the Trump administration is allowing coal companies to request exemptions from pollution regulations.

Since then, Trump has personally granted temporary exemptions from the 2024 Mercury Air Toxic Standards for 68 coal plants—representing more than a third of U.S. coal-fired capacity, according to Utility Dive (https://substack.com/redirect/1dda1a0f-a35d-4945-9494-b35bb585fb61?j=eyJ1IjoiMW42ZTYifQ.vyvZ_z0oLghKX6Zag1WJ71bIfqAlxqUD_SD6A_ZPsUM).

These temporary exemptions likely explain why the EPA is rushing to permanently repeal the 2024 mercury standards, even during a government shutdown. Because if those temporary exemptions are allowed to expire, coal companies will be forced to comply with strong pollution laws.

This is what it looks like when the fossil fuel industry doesn’t just lobby the government, but becomes the government. The agency designed to protect people from pollution gets turned into a customer service department for coal—even when the entire government is shut down. The shutdown itself has many moving parts, and it’s easy for stories like this to get lost in the shuffle. But the quiet dismantling of protections for children’s health is one that will leave a lasting mark.

Share (https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=2473&post_id=176674139&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&utm_campaign=email-share&action=share&triggerShare=true&isFreemail=true&r=1n6e6&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoyNzYwOTkwLCJwb3N0X2lkIjoxNzY2NzQxMzksImlhdCI6MTc2MTE1NDk1NSwiZXhwIjoxNzYzNzQ2OTU1LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMjQ3MyIsInN1YiI6InBvc3QtcmVhY3Rpb24ifQ.S8GH3MgWEpPXIzINbbEDclNSIqIvoERI5fUIIgzTJh4)

*Have a news tip? Contact me securely via Signal at emorwee.06

REF SPOX NO LNX

TBL

The Trump administration moved Monday to slash federal jobs across two key environmental and conservation agencies, targeting employees who work on scientific research and the enforcement of anti-pollution laws.

At the Environmental Protection Agency, staff received a new round of furlough notices as funding dwindles amid the government shutdown. The Department of the Interior disclosed plans to permanently cut more than 2,000 positions, according to a court filing by its chief personnel officer.

The Interior Department layoffs, also known as a Reduction in Force, are at the center of ongoing litigation over President Donald Trump and his administration’s efforts to further gut the federal workforce.

Monday’s filing came in response to a judge’s order requiring the Interior Department to disclose its layoff plans for unionized employees. The administration said it intends to eliminate 2,050 Interior Department positions, a decision made before the government shutdown began.

That timing contradicts Trump’s recent claim that government layoffs stemmed from the shutdown.

Most of the planned cuts would hit the U.S. Geological Survey, the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service’s regional offices and Interior’s main headquarters, according to the filing.

The Interior Department manages national parks, wildlife refuges and other public lands. It oversees environmental and wildlife conservation, fulfills trust obligations to Alaska Natives and Native American tribes and conducts scientific research on endangered species, water resources and natural hazards like flooding and wildfires so officials can better respond to them.

Those research positions would be especially hard hit by the planned layoffs, including projects focused on the Great Lakes ecosystems and the USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center in Missouri, where scientists study toxic contaminants such as PFAS, a class of chemicals Trump’s health and human services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has pledged to address.

Asked for comment, the White House referred questions to the Interior Department, which did not respond.

Environmental groups described the move as part of a broader campaign by Trump and his administration to eliminate research and data collection on environmental contamination after carrying out what EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called the largest rollback of environmental protections in U.S. history.

“This plan would eviscerate the core science that every American depends on,” said Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the conservation group the Center for Western Priorities, in a statement about the new Interior Department cuts revealed Monday.

Rokala said the planned cuts “would devastate scientific research across the Rocky Mountains, Great Plains, and Great Lakes,” while harming workers who “make our parks and public lands the envy of the world.”

Rokala also said that Monday’s filing revealed only the planned layoffs for unionized employees: “We don’t know how many non-union offices and positions are also on the chopping block.”

At the EPA, the new furlough notices arrived as the agency’s funding dries up. Last week, Trump said the shutdown was an opportunity to dismantle “Democrat programs that we want to close up or we never wanted to happen.” He has repeatedly cast environmental protection, conservation and related public health issues as “woke” and left-wing.

Some of the country’s key environmental protections, and in fact the EPA itself, date back to the Republican Nixon administration.

“Only Trump’s EPA would lay off the people who protect our kids from breathing polluted air and drinking contaminated water but keep the pesticide office open to greenlight more poisons,” said J.W. Glass, EPA policy specialist at the conservation organization Center for Biological Diversity.

Glass, in a written statement, accused the administration of using the shutdown to dismantle the EPA, leaving “our communities paying the price.”

EPA press secretary Carolyn Holran said in a written statement that the suggestion that the furloughs are part of a deliberate campaign to dismantle the EPA “is both inaccurate and unfair to the dedicated EPA employees who continue working to protect human health and the environment.”

Holran blamed Democrats for the government shutdown and said the EPA was taking a “calculated approach” to ensure “that we remain able to deliver on Presidential priorities and avoid actions that directly impact or harm the American people.”

Asked for details about the number of furlough notices sent and which offices they impact, Holran called it “a ridiculous question to ask.”

In a written statement, Peter Murchie, senior director at the nonprofit Environmental Protection Network and a former EPA official, called on Congress to intervene and stop the “systematic dismantling.”

“The health harms facing American families—cancer, childhood asthma, infertility, organ failure—don’t pause for politics,” Murchie said. “When EPA’s expert staff are sent home, large parts of the agency’s work simply stop.” END INSERT

ActivityActivity

729 followers729 followers

Loaded 2 Comments posts

Brigit B.** commented on a post • 7mo7moCongratulations!! 🎉

Congratulations!! 🎉

Brigit B.** commented on a post • 1yr1yrWoohoo! Congratulations!!

Woohoo! Congratulations!!

Show all comments

ExperienceExperience

Press SecretaryPress Secretary US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)May 2025 - Present · 6 mosMay 2025 to Present · 6 mosWashington DCWashington DC

Birch Lea Strategies positions clients to dominate the political space with effective traditional and digital communications, paid and organic marketing, political strategies, and fundraising services.

Website

https://www.birchleastrategies.com

Director of CommunicationsDirector of Communications Birch Lea StrategiesBirch Lea StrategiesOct 2023 - Present · 2 yrs 1 moOct 2023 to Present · 2 yrs 1 mo

Freelance Digital Marketer, Copywriter, and Editor

Freelance Digital Marketer, Copywriter, and EditorFreelance Digital Marketer, Copywriter, and Editor FreelanceFreelanceOct 2021 - Present · 4 yrs 1 moOct 2021 to Present · 4 yrs 1 mo

Media RelationsMedia Relations Alliance Defending FreedomAlliance Defending FreedomSep 2024 - Apr 2025 · 8 mosSep 2024 to Apr 2025 · 8 mos

Senior Account ExecutiveSenior Account Executive Pinkston · Full-timePinkston · Full-timeJan 2024 - Sep 2024 · 9 mosJan 2024 to Sep 2024 · 9 mosDistrict of Columbia, United StatesDistrict of Columbia, United States

Show all 18 experiences

EducationEducation

Trinity College DublinTrinity College Dublin Bachelor of Arts - BA, English Literature and Philosophy Bachelor of Arts - BA, English Literature and Philosophy 2017 - 20212017 - 2021

Grade: First Class Honours (4.0 GPA)Grade: First Class Honours (4.0 GPA)
- Activities and societies:

Thomistic Institute, TCD Chapter: An independent society centered around Thomistic philosophy which hosts international speakers and emphasizes individual thought and education

(President 2020/21; Vice President, 2019/20).

DU Laurentian Society: A cultural society of TCD, providing a space to discuss Catholic culture in a contemporary setting with historical and intellectual lenses (Chairperson, 2020/21; Secretary, 2019/20).Activities and societies: Thomistic Institute, TCD Chapter: An independent society centered around Thomistic philosophy which hosts international speakers and emphasizes individual thought and education (President 2020/21; Vice President, 2019/20). DU Laurentian Society: A cultural society of TCD, providing a space to discuss Catholic culture in a contemporary setting with historical and intellectual lenses (Chairperson, 2020/21; Secretary, 2019/20).…see more

- - ——

Philosophy is the art of understanding arguments, thinking critically, speaking logically, and problem-solving. This degree, combined with the culturally well-rounded TCD course in English Literature, provides me with a wealth of practical communication skills.

My studies concluded with a strong focus on digital humanities, which is the practice of fusing arts with contemporary technology. My dissertation on the Irish political uses of Shakespeare was a hybrid capstone project for which I constructed a website and digital display of my research on 18th century manuscripts in the Trinity Archives. —— Philosophy is the art of understanding arguments, thinking critically, speaking logically, and problem-solving. This degree, combined with the culturally well-rounded TCD course in English Literature, provides me with a wealth of practical communication skills. My studies concluded with a strong focus on digital humanities, which is the practice of fusing arts with contemporary technology. My dissertation on the Irish political uses of Shakespeare was a hybrid capstone project for which I constructed a website and digital display of my research on 18th century manuscripts in the Trinity Archives. …see more

The Willows AcademyThe Willows Academy 2014 - 20172014 - 2017

SkillsSkills

Media EngagementMedia Engagement

Associate at WachsmanAssociate at Wachsman

Client RelationsClient Relations

Associate at Wachsman

[### Brigit B. - Press Secretary, U.S. EPA

LinkedIn · Brigit B.

720+ followers](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brigit-hirsch)

Formerly based in Dublin, Ireland, I now provide strategic communications and PR campaigns for industry leaders in Washington, D.C., bringing a global ...

[### The Former Lobbyists Making Key Decisions at the E.P.A.

The New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com › 2025/10/21 › climate › epa-...](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/climate/epa-former-lobbyists.html)

1 day ago — Brigit Hirsch, a spokeswoman for the E.P.A., defended Kunkler's appointment and the agency's decision-making. “Like all political appointees ...

[### Virginia state government alum takes policy role at EPA

E&E News by POLITICO

https://www.eenews.net › Articles](https://www.eenews.net/articles/virginia-state-government-alum-takes-policy-role-at-epa/)

Jul 25, 2025 — In response to emailed questions, spokesperson Brigit Hirsch said, “We are excited to have Harry Schwab join EPA's Office and Air and Radiation.

Missing: spokeswoman, ‎| Show results with: spokeswoman,

[### From Industry to EPA: Lobbyist Now Oversees Pesticide ...

The Seattle Times

https://www.seattletimes.com › nation-world › from-indu...](https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/from-industry-to-epa-lobbyist-now-oversees-pesticide-rules/)

1 day ago — Brigit Hirsch, a spokesperson for the EPA, said the agency's proposal was developed by career staff over several months and that Kunkler ...

Missing: spokeswoman, ‎| Show results with: spokeswoman,

[### EPA finalizes reorganization of research office

E&E News by POLITICO

https://www.eenews.net › Articles](https://www.eenews.net/articles/epa-finalizes-reorganization-of-research-office/)

EPA launched its new environmental research office over the weekend, the ... EPA spokesperson Brigit Hirsch said in an emailed statement. “The new ...

Missing: spokeswoman, ‎| Show results with: spokeswoman,

[### The Trump administration seeks to eliminate or privatize ...

KUNC

https://www.kunc.org › the-trump-administration-seeks-...](https://www.kunc.org/2025-08-15/the-trump-administration-seeks-to-eliminate-or-privatize-the-energy-star-program)

Aug 15, 2025 — Press secretary Brigit Hirsch said Energy Star's economic benefits remain unclear. But EPA's own staff backed up that half-trillion dollar ...

Missing: spokeswoman, ‎| Show results with: spokeswoman,

[### From Industry to E.P.A.: Lobbyist Now Oversees Pesticide ...

The New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com › 2025/10/21 › climate › fro...](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/climate/from-industry-to-epa-lobbyist-now-oversees-pesticide-rules.html)

1 day ago — Brigit Hirsch, a spokeswoman for the E.P.A., said the agency's proposal was developed by career staff over several months and that Mr. Kunkler, ...

[### Making America Poisoned Again - Dollars & Sense

dollarsandsense.org

https://www.dollarsandsense.org › making-america-poiso...](https://www.dollarsandsense.org/making-america-poisoned-again/)

Aug 8, 2025 — EPA Press Secretary Brigit Hirsch denied that budget cuts were responsible, claiming that the adoptions were motivated simply by a desire to ...

Missing: spokeswoman, ‎| Show results with: spokeswoman,

[### EPA defends canceling coastal erosion grant to hard-hit ...

Anchorage Daily News

https://www.adn.com › rural-alaska › 2025/10/16 › epa-...](https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/rural-alaska/2025/10/16/epa-defends-canceling-coastal-erosion-grant-to-hard-hit-kipnuk/)

6 days ago — Hirsch, with the EPA, said in her statement that “partisans on the left would apparently prefer to have seen those precious tax dollars washed ...

[### US Environmental Protection Agency spokesman Brigit Hirsch

Webull

https://www.webull.com › news](https://www.webull.com/news/13098795009811456)

US Environmental Protection Agency spokesman Brigit Hirsch: 139 employees within the department will leave their jobs due to denouncing the Trump administration ...