February 2022 Update: CSLDF Joins Forces to Improve Whistleblower Protections, New Attorney & New Publication
CSLDF Joins 104 Organizations in Support of Whistleblower Protections
On February 17, we joined 104 organizations in signing a letter to Senate Majority Leader Schumer and Minority Leader McConnell urging them to allow the full Senate to vote on the three nominees for the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). The MSPB is the primary forum to hear federal whistleblower complaints, yet it has had no members in years, resulting in the largest-ever backlog of more than 3,500 cases. As a result, government whistleblowers waiting for review of their claims – including CSLDF clients – remain in limbo. This inaction reflects a growing crisis that the Senate must rectify as soon as possible.
Read the press release issued by the Government Accountability Project here.
Rachael Lyle Joins CSLDF Team as Staff Attorney
Today, Rachael Lyle joins our team as staff attorney. Prior to joining CSLDF, she practiced complex civil litigation at a law firm in Washington D.C., and was also a public defender in Alabama. She received her B.A. in Environmental Ethics from New York University and her J.D. from Tulane University Law School.
Read her full profile here.
We look forward to sharing her work in upcoming newsletters!
Featured Publication
Our director Lauren Kurtz and Romany Webb of the Sabin Center published an article in ScienceDirect titled Politics v. science: How President Trump’s war on science impacted public health and environmental regulation, featuring CSLDF and the Sabin Center’s joint Silencing Science Tracker. Read it here.
Please Help Us Defend Science
For 10 years, CSLDF has provided pro bono legal assistance to over 200 scientists and climate researchers – 41 in 2021 alone – being threatened or silenced for doing their jobs. Already in 2022, we are on pace to exceed these numbers, and your support ensures we can assist every scientist who comes to us. 
We deeply appreciate our generous donors. Your support enables us to continue fighting for scientists, so they can focus on the research needed to address climate change and other pressing environmental problems.
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