
As E&E News reported on Friday, Pruitt announced a push for "additional science reform" at the EPA during a closed-door meeting at the right-wing Heritage Foundation this week. (Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr/cc)
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
As E&E News reported on Friday, Pruitt announced a push for "additional science reform" at the EPA during a closed-door meeting at the right-wing Heritage Foundation this week. (Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr/cc)
A deeply unpopular plan by one of the Republican Party's most fervent climate deniers to restrict the use of scientific research in government rule-making isn't even advancing in the GOP-controlled Congress, but EPA chief Scott Pruitt appears to be moving to adopt it as official agency policy.
"It's just another excuse for Pruitt to really abrogate EPA's responsibility to protect human health and the environment."
--Yogin Kothari, Union of Concerned ScientistsAs E&E News reported on Friday, Pruitt announced a push for "additional science reform" at the EPA during a closed-door meeting at the right-wing Heritage Foundation this week.
According to attendees and others who spoke to E&E News, this "reform" effort is expected to resemble Rep. Lamar Smith's (R-Texas) legislative attempt to prohibit the EPA from using scientific data that isn't fully available to the public and "reproducible" in developing policy.
"The proposal may sound reasonable enough at first," explained The Intercept's Sharon Lerner in a summary of Smith's bill. "But because health research often contains confidential personal information that is illegal to share, the bill would prevent the EPA from using many of the best scientific studies. It would also prohibit using studies of one-time events, such as the Gulf oil spill or the effect of a partial ban of chlorpyrifos on children...because these events--and thus the studies of them--can't be repeated."
And while Smith's bill would restrict the EPA's ability to use certain kinds of crucial scientific research, it would "allow industry to keep much of its own inner workings and skewed research secret from the public, while delegitimizing studies done by researchers with no vested interest in their outcome."
\u201cThis is insane. If #EPA rules are not based on science, what are they based on? #climatechange @scottpwaldman https://t.co/GOJFptFEpU\u201d— Citizens' Climate Lobby (@Citizens' Climate Lobby) 1521223495
Pruitt's reported plan to enshrine Smith's proposals in official EPA policy was met with alarm by scientists, former government officials, and environmentalists, who argued that it is yet another "dangerous" attempt to curtail the agency's ability to combat environmental degradation.
Betsy Southerland, a former senior EPA official who resigned last year in protest against Pruitt's fervent deregulatory agenda, characterized Smith's bill and Pruitt's apparent support for it as part of a deceptive effort to "paralyze rulemaking."
"It's another obstacle that would make it so hard and so difficult to go forward with rulemaking that in the end, the only thing that would happen--in the best case you would greatly delay rulemaking; in the worst case you would just prevent it. It would be such an obstacle you couldn't overcome it."
Reacting to reports of Pruitt's plan on Friday, Yogin Kothari of the Union of Concerned Scientists called the expected move "alarming" and concluded: "It's just another excuse for Pruitt's EPA to really abrogate EPA's responsibility to protect human health and the environment."
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. The final deadline for our crucial Summer Campaign fundraising drive is just hours away, and we’re falling short of our must-hit goal. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
A deeply unpopular plan by one of the Republican Party's most fervent climate deniers to restrict the use of scientific research in government rule-making isn't even advancing in the GOP-controlled Congress, but EPA chief Scott Pruitt appears to be moving to adopt it as official agency policy.
"It's just another excuse for Pruitt to really abrogate EPA's responsibility to protect human health and the environment."
--Yogin Kothari, Union of Concerned ScientistsAs E&E News reported on Friday, Pruitt announced a push for "additional science reform" at the EPA during a closed-door meeting at the right-wing Heritage Foundation this week.
According to attendees and others who spoke to E&E News, this "reform" effort is expected to resemble Rep. Lamar Smith's (R-Texas) legislative attempt to prohibit the EPA from using scientific data that isn't fully available to the public and "reproducible" in developing policy.
"The proposal may sound reasonable enough at first," explained The Intercept's Sharon Lerner in a summary of Smith's bill. "But because health research often contains confidential personal information that is illegal to share, the bill would prevent the EPA from using many of the best scientific studies. It would also prohibit using studies of one-time events, such as the Gulf oil spill or the effect of a partial ban of chlorpyrifos on children...because these events--and thus the studies of them--can't be repeated."
And while Smith's bill would restrict the EPA's ability to use certain kinds of crucial scientific research, it would "allow industry to keep much of its own inner workings and skewed research secret from the public, while delegitimizing studies done by researchers with no vested interest in their outcome."
\u201cThis is insane. If #EPA rules are not based on science, what are they based on? #climatechange @scottpwaldman https://t.co/GOJFptFEpU\u201d— Citizens' Climate Lobby (@Citizens' Climate Lobby) 1521223495
Pruitt's reported plan to enshrine Smith's proposals in official EPA policy was met with alarm by scientists, former government officials, and environmentalists, who argued that it is yet another "dangerous" attempt to curtail the agency's ability to combat environmental degradation.
Betsy Southerland, a former senior EPA official who resigned last year in protest against Pruitt's fervent deregulatory agenda, characterized Smith's bill and Pruitt's apparent support for it as part of a deceptive effort to "paralyze rulemaking."
"It's another obstacle that would make it so hard and so difficult to go forward with rulemaking that in the end, the only thing that would happen--in the best case you would greatly delay rulemaking; in the worst case you would just prevent it. It would be such an obstacle you couldn't overcome it."
Reacting to reports of Pruitt's plan on Friday, Yogin Kothari of the Union of Concerned Scientists called the expected move "alarming" and concluded: "It's just another excuse for Pruitt's EPA to really abrogate EPA's responsibility to protect human health and the environment."
A deeply unpopular plan by one of the Republican Party's most fervent climate deniers to restrict the use of scientific research in government rule-making isn't even advancing in the GOP-controlled Congress, but EPA chief Scott Pruitt appears to be moving to adopt it as official agency policy.
"It's just another excuse for Pruitt to really abrogate EPA's responsibility to protect human health and the environment."
--Yogin Kothari, Union of Concerned ScientistsAs E&E News reported on Friday, Pruitt announced a push for "additional science reform" at the EPA during a closed-door meeting at the right-wing Heritage Foundation this week.
According to attendees and others who spoke to E&E News, this "reform" effort is expected to resemble Rep. Lamar Smith's (R-Texas) legislative attempt to prohibit the EPA from using scientific data that isn't fully available to the public and "reproducible" in developing policy.
"The proposal may sound reasonable enough at first," explained The Intercept's Sharon Lerner in a summary of Smith's bill. "But because health research often contains confidential personal information that is illegal to share, the bill would prevent the EPA from using many of the best scientific studies. It would also prohibit using studies of one-time events, such as the Gulf oil spill or the effect of a partial ban of chlorpyrifos on children...because these events--and thus the studies of them--can't be repeated."
And while Smith's bill would restrict the EPA's ability to use certain kinds of crucial scientific research, it would "allow industry to keep much of its own inner workings and skewed research secret from the public, while delegitimizing studies done by researchers with no vested interest in their outcome."
\u201cThis is insane. If #EPA rules are not based on science, what are they based on? #climatechange @scottpwaldman https://t.co/GOJFptFEpU\u201d— Citizens' Climate Lobby (@Citizens' Climate Lobby) 1521223495
Pruitt's reported plan to enshrine Smith's proposals in official EPA policy was met with alarm by scientists, former government officials, and environmentalists, who argued that it is yet another "dangerous" attempt to curtail the agency's ability to combat environmental degradation.
Betsy Southerland, a former senior EPA official who resigned last year in protest against Pruitt's fervent deregulatory agenda, characterized Smith's bill and Pruitt's apparent support for it as part of a deceptive effort to "paralyze rulemaking."
"It's another obstacle that would make it so hard and so difficult to go forward with rulemaking that in the end, the only thing that would happen--in the best case you would greatly delay rulemaking; in the worst case you would just prevent it. It would be such an obstacle you couldn't overcome it."
Reacting to reports of Pruitt's plan on Friday, Yogin Kothari of the Union of Concerned Scientists called the expected move "alarming" and concluded: "It's just another excuse for Pruitt's EPA to really abrogate EPA's responsibility to protect human health and the environment."