Environmental Data & Governance Initiative

An Online Interactive Tool for Exploring Water Justice with Undergraduate Students - Eric Nost, Marianne Sullivan, Kelsey Breseman, Lilian Milanés, Nicole Davi, 2025 It is vital that the next generation of public health practitioners understand the importance of ensuring affordable and equitable access to safe drinking water...

Our short paper on the development and use of a tool for teaching about drinking water justice in New Jersey was just published open access: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Who Knows What’s in Our Air? A Case Study in Louisiana – Environmental Data and Governance Initiative Air quality monitors measure pollutants like particulate matter, ozone, and nitrogen oxides in the air we breathe—pollutants closely linked to public health. In the past, ways to measure air quality a...

Why is citizen air monitoring important? EDGI’s Environmental Enforcement Watch demonstrates with a case study in Louisiana. Check out the blog: envirodatagov.org/who-knows-wh...

Trump administration is on track to cut 1 in 3 EPA staffers by the end of 2025, slashing agency’s ability to keep pollution out of air and water Careful research into public information and in-depth interviews has shown the scale of personnel cuts at the Environmental Protection Agency.

Today is Congress’ deadline to fund the government. While EPA proposed to slash its budget by more than 50%, it has actually *already* cut far more staff than proposed - 25% by EDGI’s count, likely more. EDGI’s @scoutblum.bsky.social and Chris Sellers explain: theconversation.com/trump-admini...

Community Engagement and Government Information Specialist Job Opening: Community Engagement and Government Information Specialist at Multiplier in Remote.

EDGI is hiring a Community Engagement and Government Information Specialist! Application deadline is October 3. multiplier-careers.pinpointhq.com/postings/403...

Trump administration is on track to cut 1 in 3 EPA staffers by the end of 2025, slashing agency’s ability to keep pollution out of air and water Careful research into public information and in-depth interviews has shown the scale of personnel cuts at the Environmental Protection Agency.

Today is Congress’ deadline to fund the government. While EPA proposed to slash its budget by more than 50%, it has actually *already* cut far more staff than proposed - 25% by EDGI’s count, likely more. EDGI’s @scoutblum.bsky.social and Chris Sellers explain: theconversation.com/trump-admini...

EPA Undermines Public Process and Ignores Evidence in Reconsideration of Endangerment Finding – Environmental Data and Governance Initiative EPA Undermines Public Process and Ignores Evidence in Reconsideration of Endangerment Finding On September 22, 2025, the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative’s […]

The public comment period for the reconsideration of the endangerment finding closed earlier this week. EDGI's public comment found that removal of critical information about climate change undermined the integrity of the process.

Read EDGI's public comment here: envirodatagov.org/epa-undermin...

EPA Undermines Public Process and Ignores Evidence in Reconsideration of Endangerment Finding – Environmental Data and Governance Initiative EPA Undermines Public Process and Ignores Evidence in Reconsideration of Endangerment Finding On September 22, 2025, the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative’s […]

The public comment period for the reconsideration of the endangerment finding closed earlier this week. EDGI's public comment found that removal of critical information about climate change undermined the integrity of the process.

Read EDGI's public comment here: envirodatagov.org/epa-undermin...

Grateful to Jessie Mahr, our amazing partner in PEDP, for leadership in preserving and making accessible the data we need to build better environmental futures. Wonderful coverage below!

ICYMI: This @envirodgi.bsky.social study spotlights how the Trump administration's cancelation of pollution reduction grants is harming communities in both D and R districts with the worst air and water quality in the country.

The Cost of Cuts to EPA’s Environmental Justice Grants – Environmental Data and Governance Initiative The Cost of Cuts to EPA’s Environmental Justice Grants highlights the benefits of environmental justice grants the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) […]

In a new report, EDGI shows the costs of terminating EPA’s environmental justice grants. Economically, cutting these grants removes over $6 billion in benefits, including 65,000 jobs.

Read to learn more: envirodatagov.org/publication/...

Fear and low morale at New England EPA office as it loses a quarter of its staff under Trump The regional branch of the EPA has lost more than 150 employees since the start of the Trump administration's efforts to reduce the agency’s workforce, according to union leaders. Current and former employees said drastic changes in staffing and shifting federal priorities are hurting morale and productivity at the agency.

A report by EDGI “found that under the current Trump administration, the EPA is at or below its lowest historical staffing levels [from the 1980s]. The authors estimated that the entire agency’s staff might be reduced by 25-33% by the end of the fiscal year.”
www.wbur.org/news/2025/09...

Burning Down the EPA: Documenting the Second Trump Administration’s Historic Assault – Environmental Data and Governance Initiative Under Administrator Zeldin, the EPA has begun incinerating many of the environmental and health protections this agency has provided for decades. Since […]

Read the report here: envirodatagov.org/publication/...

Fear and low morale at New England EPA office as it loses a quarter of its staff under Trump The regional branch of the EPA has lost more than 150 employees since the start of the Trump administration's efforts to reduce the agency’s workforce, according to union leaders. Current and former employees said drastic changes in staffing and shifting federal priorities are hurting morale and productivity at the agency.

A report by EDGI “found that under the current Trump administration, the EPA is at or below its lowest historical staffing levels [from the 1980s]. The authors estimated that the entire agency’s staff might be reduced by 25-33% by the end of the fiscal year.”
www.wbur.org/news/2025/09...

The Cost of Cuts to EPA’s Environmental Justice Grants – Environmental Data and Governance Initiative The Cost of Cuts to EPA’s Environmental Justice Grants highlights the benefits of environmental justice grants the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) […]

In a new report, EDGI shows the costs of terminating EPA’s environmental justice grants. Economically, cutting these grants removes over $6 billion in benefits, including 65,000 jobs.

Read to learn more: envirodatagov.org/publication/...

Why Impartial Government Reporting Is Vital Trump’s assault on impartial government data—from jobs to climate, health, and human rights—undermines facts, erodes trust, and threatens democracy.

"An August report from [EDGI] concludes that 'the Trump administration has significantly altered the federal environmental information landscape as information about environmental justice and climate change have been rewritten and deleted.'" www.forbes.com/sites/michae...

Proud to have been a small part of this report - many congrats to Chris Sellers for his thorough, hard work!

Burning Down the EPA: Documenting the Second Trump Administration’s Historic Assault – Environmental Data and Governance Initiative Under Administrator Zeldin, the EPA has begun incinerating many of the environmental and health protections this agency has provided for decades. Since […]

“In a short time, Zeldin has done more damage to the EPA than any previous administration,” says lead author Chris Sellers. “Rather than an EPA that works for the health of the public, Zeldin is reshaping the EPA to work for polluters and the wealthy.”

envirodatagov.org/publication/...

So excited to see this article out! Thank you for the opportunity contribute EEW and EDGI!

The damage has been fast and breath-taking, already surpassing any other assault in this 54-year agency and imperiling Congress' authority as well as the sheer functionality of our nation's chief environmental protector.

Burning Down the EPA: Documenting the Second Trump Administration’s Historic Assault – Environmental Data and Governance Initiative Under Administrator Zeldin, the EPA has begun incinerating many of the environmental and health protections this agency has provided for decades. Since […]

In a new report, EDGI documents the assault on the EPA currently taking place under the second Trump administration. Findings show an EPA that is swiftly being hollowed out and made to work for polluters rather than the health of the public.
envirodatagov.org/publication/...

Burning Down the EPA: Documenting the Second Trump Administration’s Historic Assault – Environmental Data and Governance Initiative Under Administrator Zeldin, the EPA has begun incinerating many of the environmental and health protections this agency has provided for decades. Since […]

In a new report, EDGI documents the assault on the EPA currently taking place under the second Trump administration. Findings show an EPA that is swiftly being hollowed out and made to work for polluters rather than the health of the public.
envirodatagov.org/publication/...

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

New paper alert! A new article in @sthv.bsky.social reflects on how EDGI’s Environmental Enforcement Watch program uses computational civic notebooks to intervene in environmental data regimes that otherwise sustain a harmful permission-to-pollute system.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

New paper alert! A new article in @sthv.bsky.social reflects on how EDGI’s Environmental Enforcement Watch program uses computational civic notebooks to intervene in environmental data regimes that otherwise sustain a harmful permission-to-pollute system.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Local Governments Could Be Flying Blind as Federal Data Disappears State and local governments depend on federal data for everything from community planning to disaster response. What happens if it goes away?

Without EJSCREEN, it’s harder for local governments “to know exactly where they might need to direct resources for disaster preparedness, says Gretchen Gehrke,” of EDGI. “Local governments don’t have the resources to create their own version of this tool.” www.governing.com/management-a...

Local Governments Could Be Flying Blind as Federal Data Disappears State and local governments depend on federal data for everything from community planning to disaster response. What happens if it goes away?

Without EJSCREEN, it’s harder for local governments “to know exactly where they might need to direct resources for disaster preparedness, says Gretchen Gehrke,” of EDGI. “Local governments don’t have the resources to create their own version of this tool.” www.governing.com/management-a...

Trump is outpacing his first term in deleting environmental information The restriction of language and removal of information makes it harder to address climate issues, say the authors of a new report on environmental information under Trump 2.0.

“Since the start of the second Trump administration, information on hundreds of government websites focused on environmental regulation has been changed or even removed, according to a new report from the research network and collaborative [EDGI].” www.nextgov.com/digital-gove...

EPA Celebrates Another 100 Days with 100 More Pro-Environmental Actions | US EPA EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin shared 100 additional environmental actions EPA has taken in the last 100 days to recognize 200 Days of providing clean air, land, and water for all Americans under Presid...

Curious about the claims made in the latest "100 actions" announcement from EPA's press office (link ⬇️)? EDGI’s @alissa-a.bsky.social, a #PFAS scholar with @pfasproject.bsky.social, took a closer look at the claims around forever chemicals. Here’s what she found (a 🧵):
www.epa.gov/newsreleases...

EDGI’s 2024 Annual Report is now available! In 2024, we:

➡️ Launched the Public Environmental Data Partners
➡️ Participated in the End of Term Web Archive
➡️ Launched a public comments initiative
➡️ Worked w/groups in AK & TX to document cumulative impacts

Read: envirodatagov.org/publication/...

EDGI’s 2024 Annual Report is now available! In 2024, we:

➡️ Launched the Public Environmental Data Partners
➡️ Participated in the End of Term Web Archive
➡️ Launched a public comments initiative
➡️ Worked w/groups in AK & TX to document cumulative impacts

Read: envirodatagov.org/publication/...