President Donald Trump's transition team is prepared to slash the Environmental Protection Agency's research funding and make other changes, according to Axios.
Its guiding light - a document about the agency, its use of scientific research and ways to "improve it," written by Myron Ebell of the think-tank Competitive Enterprise Institute.
"EPA does not use science to guide regulatory policy as much as it uses regulatory policy to steer the science," Ebell wrote. "This is an old problem at EPA. In 1992, a blue-ribbon panel of EPA science advisers that [sic] 'science should not be adjusted to fit policy.' But rather than heed this advice, EPA has greatly increased its science manipulation."
Ebell makes a few suggestions on how to "improve the use of science by EPA:"
- The EPA should not fund scientific research.
- Any scientific data used by the EPA ought to be made available to the public so non—EPA scientists can check and verify it.
- The advisory process must be "overhauled to eliminate conflicts of interest and inherent bias."
- And scientific standards must be established and used to "ensure that science policy decisions and epidemiological practices are based on sound science."
A Republican source told Axios that the document "represents a think-tank wish list of possible (Executive Orders) and budget cuts," adding that this could frighten moderates in the GOP who don't want to be seen as against the environment.
Trump's pick to head the EPA in his administration, Scott Pruitt, said before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works that while he doesn't believe climate change is a "hoax," as Trump once called it during his campaign, he did say there is still debate over the best course of action.
"Science tells us the climate is changing and human activity in some matter impacts that change," Pruitt said. "The ability to measure and pursue the degree and the extent of that impact and what to do about it are subject to continuing debate and dialogue."
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