Chicago Greens
Press Release March 2, 2025
For Information:
Charles Paidock, Secretary
(312) 842-5036, (312) 714-7790 cell
Trump looks to thin the ranks of the environmental agency
responsible for protecting the Great Lakes bioregion
Environmentalists Object to Reduction-in-Force of Federal Employees at EPA in Chicago
Members of the Chicago Greens, an environment activist organization, object to a reduction-in-staff either effected or planned in staffing at the Chicago 5 Office of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which oversees inspections and enforcement of pollution laws in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin. President Trump is planning to shut down research and other government programs around climate change. He has also vowed to roll back newer programs initiated by former President Joe Biden.
Agency employees anticipate restrictions by Trump over the next four years as the president sees some policies and regulations stifling economic growth. Trump, however, has promised air and water will be protected from pollution.
More than 100 employees of the EPA’s Chicago office have been served with notices by the Trump administration that they may be fired. Similar warning emails were sent to employees in EPA offices across the country.
Charles Paidock, Secretary of the organization, stated that "This poses a real threat to preserving the bioregion of the Great Lakes basin, one of the singular bodies of fresh water in the world. The President should in fact be adding to the staff to ensure protection from pollution of this unique geological feature. Once these things go, it is questionable if you can ever bring them back. With the very real possibility of the onset of climate changes, new and different problems may arise. This will take place when there are reports that Trump's disruptive personnel actions have resulted in turmoil within the agency.".
The organization is in the process of contacting members of the Illinois delegation to the U.S. Congress, expressing concerns about the environmental policies of the Trump administration, and the loss of technically trained, career federal employees.
