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EPA Dismisses Half the Scientists on Its Major Review Board (nymag.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: A few weeks after the election, pro-Trump commentator Scottie Nell Hughes heralded the dawn of a new era when she declared, "There's no such thing, unfortunately, anymore as facts." In the age of Trump there's little need for people who've devoted their lives to studying scientific facts, and over the weekend the administration finally got around to dismissing some of them. According to the Washington Post, about half of the 18 members on the Environmental Protection Agency's Board of Scientific Counselors have been informed that their terms will not be renewed. The academics who sit on the board advise the EPA's scientific board on whether its research is sound. The academics usually serve two three-year stints, and they were told by Obama administration officials and career EPA staffers that they would stay on for another term. But on Friday some received emails from the agency informing them that their first three-year term was up and they would not be renominated. Republican members of Congress have complained for some time that the Board of Scientific Counselors, as well as the 47-member Science Advisory Board, just rubber-stamp new EPA regulations. A spokesman for EPA administrator Scott Pruitt confirmed that he's thinking of replacing the academics with industry experts (though the EPA is supposed to be regulating those companies). Gretchen Goldman, research director at the Center for Science and Democracy, expressed her disappointment and asked, "What's the scientific reason for removing these individuals from this EPA science review board? It is rare to see such a large scale dismissal even in a presidential transition. The EPA is treating this scientific advisory board like its members are political appointees when these committees are not political positions. The individuals on these boards are appointed based on scientific expertise not politics. This move by the EPA is inserting politics into science."
Wow nice linking to fake news sites, except for the Denver Post link which had absolutely nothing to do with sound scientific research.
Trump much?
Did you ever wake up in the morning, with a Zombie Woof behind your eyes? -- FZ
Other sources reporting the story:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/0...
http://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2017/05/08/epa-michigan-state-professor/101429388/
https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/05/epa-boots-at-least-5-scientists-off-board-may-favor-replacements-from-industry/
http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/08/politics/epa-scott-pruitt-board/
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/the-epa-just-got-rid-of-a-bunch-of-scientists-on-its-top-review-board-vgtrn
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2017/05/08/EPA-dismisses-five-members-of-scientific-review-board/6031494254095/
http://www.geoffreylandis.com
From looking at the other stories, apparently the number of scientist dismissed (in the story here listed as "at least five") is nine.
From http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/08/... :
"An EPA spokesman told CNN there are a total of 18 positions on this particular advisory board, and nine of those scientists were not renewed following the end of their three-year term."
http://www.geoffreylandis.com
American Stinker is one of the fakest news sites out there, far worse than CNN. against my better judgement I clicked on that one, and it was basically just a bunch of accusations, no actual evidence that I could see. In fact one of the "bad" things the epa did is pay people to try and peer review the work, OH GAWD the horror.
When you cant win, ad hominem.
Interestingly enough, when a medical committee is looking at brain surgeons, they typically have a few on the committee.
Two things:
(1) As another reply already pointed out, a medical committee on brain surgery invites brain surgeons, Ph.D.s in neurophysiology or whatever, etc. They don't invite patients for their opinions on how best to do the surgery, which is a closer analogue here.
(2) Your idea may have some merit in the sense that having input from industry experts could be useful in formulating the best policy plans if they will require restructuring businesses. Perhaps there is already some sort of committee like that at the EPA, or maybe input is ad-hoc -- or maybe even one could be formed. HOWEVER, it does NOT make sense to appoint industry experts on business policy to the Board of Scientific Counselors or the Science Advisory Board.
Maybe the brain surgeons don't understand the realities of patient care and comfort. Maybe they should have a hospital committee that includes some patients to think about those issues. But the brain surgeons should NOT appoint a bunch of patients to an advisory board on the science and practice of brain surgery itself!
Next up: Literally changing the definition of "literally."
That literally already happened
I don't give a rat's ass what people think about climate change. I have many members of my extended family with asthma, and more than one with life-threatening asthma. And here's the thing: when they vacation to places with very low levels of air pollution, their symptoms diminish.
Earth gets hot, Florida ends up under water? I don't care. My kids and my siblings stay alive? I do care. So I'm against fossil fuel power sources and all for renewable energy, nuclear, and research into fusion power.
For those of you who wouldn't lose half your family if we had Chinese air quality: lucky you.
We (the plurality) voted for Clinton. By almost 3 million votes. Trump lost the vote of the citizens.
A very small group, specifically the electoral college, put Trump in there. The voters didn't. It's a technical win at best. What it isn't is an indication that he actually won the hearts and minds of the US population. He didn't. He still hasn't. There's no sign he ever will.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
Your article shows an accusation. From a Texas senator. lol. I bet you can tell us a whole lot about science.
I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.