Dear NRDC Activist,

Please know that every NRDC supporter is in our thoughts during this crisis. We are going to get through this together.

I wish I didn't have to email you today about an attack on science, but the Trump administration leaves me no choice.

If there's one thing the COVID-19 pandemic underscores, it's the critical importance of strong and sound science that protects public health and safety.

That's why it's so distressing that — at this perilous moment — the Trump administration is moving ahead with a new and dangerous "Censoring Science" rule. This rule would undermine science, scientists, and decades of progress in protecting our clean air, clean water, and public health.

Trump's EPA is accepting public comments on its proposal right now. Our goal is to generate 100,000 letters of opposition by the May 18 deadline.

Submit your official public comment urging the Trump administration to drop its misguided proposal and STOP attacking science immediately.

NRDC is prepared to wage this fight in court if that's what it takes.

Trump's "Censoring Science" rule — the so-called "Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science" proposal — would restrict the EPA's use of the best available science in setting new safeguards that protect our families from dirty air, unsafe drinking water, and dangerous impacts from climate change.

The proposal gives fossil-fuel-lobbyist-turned-EPA-chief, Andrew Wheeler, the power to censor the science that underlies our country's environmental and public health protections.

He claims that the EPA should only consider publicly available data in making its policies. That may sound reasonable, but here's the reality: thousands of strong, peer-reviewed scientific studies rely on private, confidential patient data — medical studies, personal health data, and clinical reports — which cannot be made public by law.

The net result of the Censoring Science rule is that the EPA will rely much more on questionable data and research produced by the same polluting industries the agency is supposed to be regulating.

As a former EPA administrator myself, I can tell you that this proposal has nothing to do with protecting science. It's about advancing the Trump administration's agenda of undermining solid science, and rolling back decades of protections for our environment, our climate, and our public health. And it's about giving the administration's powerful polluter allies free rein to "regulate" themselves.

In the midst of a massive, global public health crisis, we deserve a government that relies on the best available science to protect us against harm. This proposal does the opposite. In fact, this supplemental proposal was not even reviewed by the EPA's own Scientific Advisory Board before it was released to the public, demonstrating the agency's lack of interest in any meaningful consultation with scientific experts.

Stand with NRDC and help protect the very best science and most effective safeguards at the EPA: Submit an urgent public comment opposing Trump's disastrous proposal before the May 18 deadline.

NRDC remains vigilant. We will continue fighting for you, for science, and for our planet. Please do your part by submitting a comment to the EPA, opposing this reckless proposal.

Thank you.

Gina McCarthy
President, NRDC


P.S. Please take precautions to keep yourself, your family and community safe. Read more from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) for information on how to take precautions against the COVID-19 threat.