""There was no discussion, there was no warning, simply an email that said, 'You're done. This project is no longer within the administration's scope. Cease and desist activities as of today,'" she recalled over the phone. The email, which was riddled with typos, disgusted Clougherty, who was spending her final days with her father who was in hospice care. "It was horrible and traumatic and a very unprofessional way to handle the elimination of these grants," she said."
"But she also wasn't surprised. For months the Trump administration had been hacking away at any work related to equity, climate change and environmental justice. Her research - which analyzed emergency room visits across New York State to understand the impacts of heat and air pollution on children's health - was focused squarely on all of the above. When asked about the grant cancellations, an EPA spokesperson told the 19th in a statement: "Maybe the Biden-Harris Administration shouldn't have forced their radical agenda of wasteful DEI programs and 'environmental justice' preferencing the EPA's core mission.""
Jane Clougherty's EPA-funded research on heat, air pollution, and children's emergency room visits across New York State was abruptly canceled via an email instructing immediate cessation. The cancellation notice arrived without discussion or warning while Clougherty was caring for her father in hospice, and the email contained typos. Clougherty described the termination as horrible, traumatic, and unprofessional. The research focused on links between extreme heat, air pollution, and children's health within environmental justice and equity contexts. An EPA spokesperson blamed the Biden-Harris administration's focus on DEI and environmental justice for the cancellations.
Read at Truthout
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