Trump’s war on science continues with EPA firingsGersh Kuntzman Updated: Monday, May 8, 2017, 9:32 AM
President Trump's war on basic facts continues — but this time, you'll literally end up choking on it.
Late last week, the President and his Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott "Coal Belchin'" Pruitt quietly fired half of the 18-member Board of Scientific Counselors, a panel that evaluates research done by EPA scientists to help government regulators create the rules that protect clean air, water and soil, among many other things. It's part of a larger war on science that includes a House bill that would require more industry representatives on another EPA science panel so that it's oversight of industry is more "balanced"...towards industry!
Of course, Trump has no use for these panels because he has no use for clean air and water regulations. From the moment he took office, the 45th President began turning back the clock on basic environmental stewardship:
Jan. 23: "President Trump institutes media blackout at EPA." Three days into his administration, the President barred EPA employees "from providing updates on social media or providing information to reporters."
EPA removes climate change page from website
Jan. 25: "Trump administration mandates all EPA studies to be first reviewed by political staffers before public sees them." The policy weakened an Obama Administration rule that allowed scientists to work "uncompromised by political or other interference."
On March 3, Trump proposed chopping the EPA budget by 25% because who needs toxic cleanups or pollution law enforcement? Not the U.S. apparently. (Malven/iStock/Getty Images)
March 3: "President Trump proposes to chop EPA budget by 25%, hitting areas like toxic cleanups and pollution law enforcement." That announcement of a scale-back of the Environmental Protection Agency's role of protecting the environment also came with a kicker: the agency was also "withdrawing an Obama-era request that oil and natural gas companies provide information on methane emissions at oil and gas operations." In other words, who needs to know how much methane is being pumped into the environment? Methane is just air, right?
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http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/trump-war-science-continues-epa-firings-article-1.3147062