Slashdot Mirror
EPA Blocks Warnings on Cancer-Causing Chemical: Report (politico.com)
The Trump administration is suppressing an Environmental Protection Agency report that warns that most Americans inhale enough formaldehyde vapor in the course of daily life to put them at risk of developing leukemia and other ailments, a current and a former agency official told POLITICO. The news outlet adds: The warnings are contained in a draft health assessment EPA scientists completed just before Donald Trump became president, according to the officials. They said top advisers to departing Administrator Scott Pruitt are delaying its release as part of a campaign to undermine the agency's independent research into the health risks of toxic chemicals.
Andrew Wheeler, the No. 2 official at EPA who will be the agency's new acting chief as of Monday, also has a history with the chemical. He was staff director for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in 2004, when his boss, then-Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), sought to delay an earlier iteration of the formaldehyde assessment. Formaldehyde is one of the most commonly used chemicals in the country. Americans are exposed to it through wood composites in cabinets and furniture, as well as air pollution from major refineries.
Andrew Wheeler, the No. 2 official at EPA who will be the agency's new acting chief as of Monday, also has a history with the chemical. He was staff director for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in 2004, when his boss, then-Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), sought to delay an earlier iteration of the formaldehyde assessment. Formaldehyde is one of the most commonly used chemicals in the country. Americans are exposed to it through wood composites in cabinets and furniture, as well as air pollution from major refineries.
Environmental Pollution Agency
It's not the individual incidents like this that you should be focusing on, it's the overall trend towards an anti-science, anti-facts, anti-truth attitude, and towards 'faith-based', 'superstition', 'mysticism', and my favorite: 'Dominionism', expecting that The Earth is going to be destroyed soon anyway, Zombie Jesus will take The Faithful home to Heaven, and all the Heathen Masses will die anyway, so why should they care? Don't think for a second I'm even kidding, these people exist, they think the Earth is only 6000 years old, and that Science is from Satan and is all lies. These are also often the 'anti-vaxers', too, who think vaccinations is literally injecting The Devil into their kids veins -- because 'science is evil'.
It's almost like you don't want to give government too much power because sooner or later someone you don't like will be running it.
Welcome to the Federalist Society.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.