The EPA Hits New Low

I have written about this issue before. But I just read an article in the Scientific American, February 2020, by Andrew Rosenberg, the Director of the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has one Job: to Protect Public Health and the Environment we Live in, with the Best available Science. It is a Mission that Saves Lives. But that Mission could End if EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler succeeds in Restricting the Science that the EPA can use.

Wheeler is Pushing a New Proposed Rule, Cloaked in the Rhetoric of Transparency, that in Most Cases would Effectively Bar the PA from using a Study in its Policy making if All of that Study's Data, Computer Code, and Models have Not been made Public. In practice, this Eliminates All Studies that Protect the Confidential Medical Information of Participants, even though such Research is Vital for Understanding the Public Health Impacts of Pollution. The Rule would make Laws as the Clean Air Act harder to fully Implement. It sounds like a small Change, but it has the Potential to do Enormous Damage.

An attempt to Add this Rule in 2018 was met with widespread Condemnation from Public Health Experts and the Science Community. A Supplemental Proposal is a New Effort by Wheeler to Abandon Science-based Protections that have Worked Effectively for Decades to Deliver Cleaner Air, Cleaner Water, and Healthier Communities. So what does the Rule do in its New Form?

- It Applies to All the Science used by the EPA.

- It requires Endless, Pointless Re-Analysis.

- It Upends the Value placed on Studies.

- It is a Political Change made to Achieve Political Goals.

The EPA Administrator can Pick and Choose when the Rule Does or Dose Not Apply, the exact Opposite of a Transparent or Science-based Process.

This Proposal puts a set of Handcuffs on the EPA, with Industry-Linked Political Appointees holding the Keys. It will make it Harder for the EPA to Protect Communities or to Hold Polluters Accountable. It is a Declaration by Wheeler and his Deputies that they Don't Care about Public Health or the Environment.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker