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New Chair of EPA Science Board Rejects Basic Science and Hates EPA
Trump appointed Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. Pruitt's has worked every day since then to destroy the EPA and he is unfortunately one of the most capable people Trump has put into a position of power. Pruitt is appointing people throughout the EPA to undermine the agency with a crystal clear belief that environmental regulations that protect our people and our world should never impede upon the profits of private corporations and their right to make as much money as possible.
Pruitt's recent appointment of Michael Honeycutt may be his absolute worst yet.
The [EPA] Science Advisory Board’s new chair is Michael Honeycutt, a toxicologist at the Texas Board of Environmental Quality has fought against stricter ozone standards and helped relax chemical regulations in Texas.
What is the EPA's Science Advisory Board that Honeycutt now chairs?
EPA’s Science Advisory Board [is] a body of experts that provides objective scientific advice to the agency. The board was created in 1978 by Congress and charged with the mission of providing impartial science free of political interference.
Michael Honeycutt has a long, documented history of ignoring basic science and has spent his career fighting environmental regulation and scientific fact.
....Honeycutt, has accused the EPA of scaring the public about the health risks of toxic chemicals.... has repeatedly put himself outside the scientific mainstream by arguing that pollutants are not nearly as harmful as the evidence suggests. [He said] EPA’s ozone rules are unnecessary because “Americans likely spend at least 90 percent of their time indoors.”
His appointment — like that of Rick Perry, Susan Combs and Kathleen Hartnett White — continues the trend of the Trump administration headhunting Texas officials who’ve repeatedly attacked the very policies that they’re now charged with implementing.
He “consistently takes positions favoring industry and a lax regulatory climate over public health protections” and his appointment to the committee would lead to “an appearance of a loss of impartiality,” seven environmental groups wrote.
Sources:
https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-toxicologist-rejects-basic-science-appointed-epa-science-board/