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Scott Pruitt Signs Rule Limiting What Science EPA Can Use
Scott Pruitt is in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency yet he would love nothing more than to erase it from existence. He's been attacking our environment and our future in hundreds of very meaningful ways. In this post, we describe the latest one.
Pruitt moved Tuesday [April 24, 2018] to limit what science can be used in writing agency regulations, a change long sought by conservatives. The proposed rule would only allow the EPA to consider studies where the underlying data is made available publicly. Such restrictions could affect how the agency protects Americans from toxic chemicals, air pollution and other health risks.
Here is the key: The EPA relies of scientific findings to create or change rules to help keep us healthy. Think things like pollution to air or water impacting your health over many decades. Studies can show this and then rules can be enacted to force corporations to adjust to protect us and our environment. Pruitt's efforts here are to end that because these studies, this science, is often predicated on confidentiality of the people involved. This would exclude a treasure trove of vital studies that have had immeasurable positive impacts on our world because the source of data for the studies must be kept confidential.
....scientists and public health groups warn that the rule would effectively block the EPA from relying on long-standing, landmark studies on the harmful effects of air pollution and pesticide exposure. Such research often involves confidential personal or medical histories or proprietary information.
Scientists often collect personal data from subjects but pledge to keep it confidential. Researchers will have trouble recruiting study participants if the rule is enacted, she predicted, even if they pledge to redact private information before handing it over to the government.
....requiring the kind of disclosure Pruitt envisions would have disqualified the federal government from tapping groundbreaking research, such as studies linking exposure to leaded gasoline to neurological damage or a major 1993 study by Harvard University that established the link between fine-particle air pollution and premature deaths.
Conservatives....have long tried to discredit independent research the agency used to justify limiting air pollution from burning coal and other fossil fuels. A series of studies has shown that fine particulate matter, often referred to as soot, enters the lungs and bloodstream and can cause illnesses such as asthma and even premature death.
The move reflects Pruitt's continued efforts to destroy the EPA. In his mind, nothing, not even the future our planet, should stand in the way of corporations doing whatever they want to maximize profits.
The move reflects a broader effort already underway to shift how the EPA conducts and uses science to guide its work. Pruitt has upended the standards for who can serve on its advisory committees, barring scientists who received agency grants for their research while still allowing those funded by industry.
Fortunately, like many of Pruitt's attempted treasonous actions, there are groups that will stand up and sue to block him, even if temporarily.
The proposal will be subject to a 30-day comment period, EPA officials said. Scientific organizations are already campaigning to block the rule from being finalized. Based on previous court cases, it could prompt legal challenges if implemented.
Timed with Pruitt's announcement, seven Democratic Lawmakers sent a letter to Pruitt on Tuesday denouncing the new policy. "Your proposed new policy likely violates several laws with which EPA must comply as the agency writes rules to protect our air, water and land from harmful pollution.”
The lawmakers said Pruitt's new policy likely would run afoul of a number of laws that mandate rulemaking be based on the "best available science … because it would require EPA to ignore some of the ‘best’ scientific studies."
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