March 31, 2021 5:11 PM EDT
Today marks an important day for Biden administration progress to restore independent science, as EPA Administrator Michael Regan announced that he would be “resetting” the membership on two of its science advisory committees, the Science Advisory Board (SAB) and the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC). That’s a clear indication that Administrator Regan will make good on his and the President’s commitment to “listen to the scientists.” Read more >
November 17, 2020 11:12 AM EDT
In his first week as president-elect, Joe Biden instituted an advisory board of experts to provide science-based recommendations to respond to COVID-19. This could be a signal that independent science advice under a Biden administration is valued. After four years of watching the norms of science advisory structures eroded and undermined, especially at the EPA, it is hard to visualize the possibilities of a government informed by experts. Read more >
June 26, 2020 2:51 PM EDT
In a win for independent science, the EPA said yesterday that it will rescind a policy banning many of the nation’s top environmental scientists from serving on the agency’s science advisory committees. The agency was under court order to remove it. Read more >
June 15, 2019 8:31 AM EDT
This is an attack on the way that facts and verified information feed into our government. Its very premise threatens our democracy. Read more >
June 7, 2019 10:01 AM EDT
I told E&E News before this week’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) meeting that my concern was that Administrator Wheeler was using the board “as a box he needs to check off” on his path to deregulation. He called out my quote in his statement to the SAB on Tuesday morning and refuted the underlying assumption that he didn’t value his science advisors. I didn’t have to wait long before the proceedings of the meeting proved my very point and illustrated exactly how little Administrator Wheeler cares about the scientific underpinnings of regulations, the opinions of his own scientists and science advisors, or even in getting basic scientific facts correct. Here are just a few anecdotes from this week’s SAB meeting that made this clear:
