Trump Admin Continues Assault on Science with Intimidation Tactics

Washington, DC -- This morning, E&E News reported that the Trump administration is deploying armed guards at the CDC to intimidate George Luber, the former head of the CDC's Climate and Health Program who is expected to file a whistleblower complaint this week. 

The whistleblower complaint is centered around CDC retaliation against Luber for speaking out on the climate crisis as the CDC is shifting climate funds to other programs.

The Trump administration tried to completely gut Luber’s Climate and Health Program, canceled a long-planned conference on the climate crisis, and folded the Climate and Health program into the asthma branch of the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH), diverting funds from it. The goal of Luber’s program was to help states and local health agencies respond to the public health impacts of the climate crisis. 

In response Sierra Club Resist campaign director Maura Cowley released the following statement:

“To Donald Trump, climate is a four letter word, never to be mentioned. His Administration will apparently do anything to hide the truth about the climate crisis, even if it means ruining the careers of hard-working scientists. The public depends on these scientists being able to go into work everyday without fear of retaliation when they are simply doing their jobs to help safeguard our families and communities. The consequences of the climate crisis are already here, and no intimidation tactics or clampdowns can change the fact that the CDC, EPA and Department of Interior need to not only be talking about it, but working to solve it.”