honeycutt tceq

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">mofo</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">3/19</font></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 23px; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">Stepney started with TCEQ in 1992 and worked eight years in the Air Permitting Division. Initially as a new source review permit writer, she later became a team leader and technical specialist responsible for the development and implementation of many aspects of the Title V permitting program.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 23px; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">In 2000, Stepney moved to the agency’s water programs and became a section manager for the Wastewater Permitting Section before being promoted to division director in 2003 for the Water Quality Division. She was later appointed Assistant Deputy Director for the Office of Permitting and Registration where her focus was on the water supply and water quality programs.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 23px; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">When the Office of Water was created in 2009, Stepney was named Deputy Director. The Office of Water encompasses TCEQ’s water availability, water districts, groundwater, river compacts, water quality permitting and planning, and public drinking water functions.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 23px; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">Stepney has a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering and a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Texas. She is a licensed professional engineer in the State of Texas. She currently serves as a board member for the Mickey Leland Environmental Internship Program. She is a graduate of the Governor’s Center, Executive Management Program, and the University of Texas Center for Public Policy Dispute Resolution Fellows Program. She participates in the group from Texas that meets with Mexico and IBWC to negotiate water deliveries under the Rio Grande 1944 Treaty.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 23px; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;">Stepney and her husband Al, have a 17-year-old son who keeps them busy with scouting, basketball, tennis, and music.</p></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">hmmn blog greene beef</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><a href="https://protectiveordervictims.com/2020/09/12/michael-honeycutt-tceq-toxicology-director-lies-under-oath/">https://protectiveordervictims.com/2020/09/12/michael-honeycutt-tceq-toxicology-director-lies-under-oath/</a></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">TALKING BACK to restraining orders</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">THEY’RE NOT JUST ABUSED; THEY’RE ABUSIVE</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Michael Honeycutt, TCEQ Tox Director, Lies under Oath</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Posted on<b> September 12, 2020</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Michael Honeycutt, Ph.D., whom this post tersely exposes, is the director of toxicology of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). He is also the current chairman of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Boards </b>but, amid some controversy concerning his ethics, reportedly will not be seeking reappointment when his term ends next month.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Readers may consult “What TCEQ Exec L’Oreal Stepney Would Ask Michael Honeycutt if She Cared Whether the Directors Her Agency Employed Were Unscrupulous Stooges” and its attendant links for specifics concerning this post.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Note: The writer’s publication of satirical images like the one below is not meant to suggest to the reader who has been victimized by court process that people who lie in court or abet liars in court deserve to be merely lampooned. It is the writer’s conviction, rather, that they deserve to be harshly censured in court, like those who are lied about, threatened in court, like those who are lied about, and sent to jail, like those who are lied about too often are. The deplorable fact is that liars are almost always rewarded for their misconduct with the court’s thanks. Criticism and satiric commentary are thus victims’ only lawful recourse.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Michael Honeycutt, Michael Honeycutt PhD, Michael Honeycutt TCEQ, Michael Honeycutt EPA, SAB Chair Michael Honeycutt, false testimony, L'Oreal Stepney, L'Oreal Stepney TCEQ, Toby Baker, Toby Baker TCEQ, TCEQ executive director</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Michael Honeycutt, Ph.D., director of toxicology of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), represented as an even fatter big fat liar</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>WHAT MICHAEL HONEYCUTT DID:</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Lied under oath in a lawsuit in which he phoned in an appearance to help a colleague who had lied under oath deprive the writer of his First Amendment liberty to report their lies.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">WHAT MICHAEL HONEYCUTT COUNTED ON:</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">That his and his colleague’s testimony could never be publishe</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">d.</span></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">HOW MICHAEL HONEYCUTT DID IT:</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By testifying that I had called his colleague a “fraudulent scientist” because I told him she was a liar.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Honeycutt also reported secondhand fictive tales of sexual harassment/aggression</b> that he acknowledged under oath he had made no attempt to clarify let alone verify.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WHY MICHAEL HONEYCUTT DID IT:</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Because he had an inappropriate relationship with his colleague, who was and continues to be his employee. Whether that inappropriate relationship went beyond willing service to her as an agent in an enterprise that was later deemed unlawful, the writer can’t say. (Honeycutt did, however, testify that he had provided his colleague with a private office with a door that locked, and the woman was nominated to a post at the EPA coincident with Honeycutt’s nomination.)</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WHAT THE CONSEQUENCES WERE:</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">An unconstitutional censorship order prohibiting the writer from reporting years of false testimony by Honeycutt’s colleague, a married woman who had indulged an infatuation at the writer’s home in 2005. The writer lived under the order for five years, sustaining himself by manual labor, before it was dissolved in 2018, when the woman’s accusations were dismissed, and a mutual order was entered by the court prohibiting her from ever revisiting them publicly (though the writer is certain they continue to circulate privately). While the writer lived hand-to-mouth, Honeycutt was paid a generous six-figure salary for performing in an air-conditioned facility what is reportedly held by many to be suspect science for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The illegal order Honeycutt was instrumental in coercing from a since disgraced judge was only dissolved after a protracted two-year contest following his colleague’s seeking to have the writer imprisoned, which Honeycutt apparently supported, and her false allegations continue to be preserved as public documents that can only serve to impede the writer and that have galled and gnawed at him, to the diminishment of his and others’ lives, for nearly 15 years.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WHAT MICHAEL HONEYCUTT HAS DONE SINCE 2018:</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Relished his moment in the spotlight as the EPA’s chief science advisor by all appearances.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Copyright © 2020 ProtectiveOrderVictims.com</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Related</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Michael Honeycutt, Dr. Michael Honeycutt PhD, Margaret Ligarde, Michael Honeycutt PhD, TCEQ, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, EPA, EPA SAB, EPA Science Advisory Boards, SAB chairman, TCEQ Human Resources, Governor Greg Abbott, Stephanie Perdue, TCEQ Human Resources Director Beth West, TCEQ Executive Director Toby Baker, TCEQ, TCEQ Deputy Executive Director Stephanie Bergeron Perdue, Governor Greg Abbott, Greg Abbott, Stephanie Bergeron Perdue, Toby Baker, Beth West, L'Oreal W. Stepney, Kelly Keel Linden, LâOreal Stepney</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Michael Honeycutt, Hack Ph.D., Grooms Chronic Liar to Give Expert Witness Testimony as TCEQ Rep; Both Named to Trump EPA</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">January 9, 2020</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In "Restraining order abuse"</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">What TCEQ Exec L’Oreal Stepney Would Ask Michael Honeycutt if She Cared Whether the Directors Her Agency Employed Were Unscrupulous Stooges</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">August 16, 2020</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In "Restraining order abuse"</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tiffany Bredfeldt, Tiffany Bredfeldt PhD, Tiffany Bredfeldt TCEQ, Tiffany Bredfeldt EPA, Tiffany Hargis, EPA, Bredfeldt TG, Dr. Tiffany Bredfeldt, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, TCEQ, EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Science Advisory Board, SAB, EPA Chemical Assessment Advisory Committee, Michael Honeycutt, Beth West, Stephanie Perdue, LâOreal Stepney, Toby Baker, TCEQ, Phil Bredfeldt, Ray and Ruth Bredfeldt, Jeremy and Kim Cheezum, Jeremy Cheezum, Kim Cheezum, Daren Dietmeier, Ray Bredfeldt, Ruth Bredfeldt, Michael Honeycutt, Dr. Michael Honeycutt PhD, Margaret Ligarde, Michael Honeycutt PhD, TCEQ, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, EPA, EPA SAB, EPA Science Advisory Boards, SAB chairman, TCEQ Human Resources, Governor Greg Abbott, TCEQ Human Resources Director Beth West, TCEQ Executive Director Toby Baker, TCEQ, TCEQ Deputy Executive Director Stephanie Bergeron Perdue, Governor Greg Abbott, Greg Abbott, Stephanie Bergeron Perdue, Toby Baker, Beth West, L'Oreal W. Stepney, Kelly Keel Linden, L'Oreal Stepney, L'Oreal Stepney TCEQ, Jamie Hargis Witmer, Jamie Witmer LPC, Jamie Hargis Witmer LPC, Jamie Witmer therapist, Ron Witmer, Toby Baker TCEQ, TCEQ executive director, </font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Hoax Prosecutions by Psych Patient Tiffany Bredfeldt & Co. against the Author of this Site Terminate: ILLEGAL SPEECH INJUNCTION COERCED FROM DISGRACED JUDGE IN 2013 IS GUTTED</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">July 14, 2018</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In "Restraining order abuse"</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tagged: censorship, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, false testimony, First Amendment, lying in court, TCEQ, TCEQ director of toxicology, TCEQ ethics, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Posted in: Restraining order abuse</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">← Michael Honeycutt, EPA Top Science Adviser, Lies under OathMichael Honeycutt Condones Use of TCEQ Resources to Conceal Legal Mischief? →</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div style=""><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/01/12/cancer-trump-administration-epa-carcinogens-regulations/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://theintercept.com/2020/01/12/cancer-trump-administration-epa-carcinogens-regulations/</font></a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>the war on the war on cancer</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no pix no lnx many no graf</font></div><div style=""><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sharon Lerner</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">January 12 2020, </font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WHEN ANGELA RAMIREZ was 38, she felt a slight pain in her chest. At first she thought she had pulled a muscle, but when it didn’t go away, Ramirez went to her doctor, who diagnosed her with stage 2 breast cancer. A mother of three and a parent educator in a local public school in Lake County, Illinois, Ramirez had to undergo a double mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation, and five follow-up surgeries.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Eight years since the diagnosis, her family is still recovering. Because of complications, Ramirez is awaiting several more reconstructive surgeries. Her daughter Ada, now 15, was recently diagnosed with PTSD, in part, Ramirez thinks, because she spent much of her childhood worrying that her mother wouldn’t survive. And her husband is working 80 hours a week to cover medical expenses and lost income. “Cancer changes your whole life,” she said recently.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ramirez used to think of her ordeal as random bad luck — an inexplicable series of genetic mutations that just happened to derail her life. But that changed in 2018, after she learned that she both lived and worked near two facilities that were emitting a c<b>ancer-causing chemical called ethylene oxide.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Two years earlier, the Environmental Protection Agency released an assessment of ethylene oxide performed by a small division of the agency known as IRIS, which crunched numbers showing that exposure to ethylene oxide caused elevated rates of tumors in the brain, lungs, uterus, and lymph systems.</b> The technical report from IRIS, which stands for the Integrated Risk Information System, changed the classification of ethylene oxide, an odorless gas used to make other chemicals and sterilize medical equipment, from probably carcinogenic to plainly carcinogenic to humans. Based in part on several studies showing that female workers exposed to ethylene oxide had higher breast cancer rates, the report calculated a safety threshold that was 30 times more sensitive than previous estimates. Combined with agency data about local emissions, the <b>new threshold allowed the EPA Office of Air and Radiation</b> to identify the census tracts where residents were at increased risk of cancer from breathing ethylene oxide.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">As Ramirez could plainly see on the EPA’s interactive map, the cancer risk was elevated both where she lived and, even more extremely, at the office where she worked for several years before her diagnosis, which was less than a mile from one factory that emitted the carcinogenic gas and less than three miles from another. The news was like a missing puzzle piece. “I had always found it kind of strange that I was the only one in my family who ever had cancer,” said Ramirez, who had moved to the suburbs from Chicago in 2005 in part because she wanted to be closer to nature.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ramirez still suffers from chronic back pain and weakness. But the realization that her cancer may have resulted from emissions from the local factories has caused a different kind of suffering. “Every time I open the windows I think about it now,” she said. “I’m so angry. My kids at 2nd and 3rd grade shouldn’t have had to wonder whether their mother was going to die.”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Angela Ramirez's neighborhood is seen in this photo. The neighborhood in Waukegan, Ill., is located in a census tract that is at high risk for cancer. Jan. 2, 2020. Pat Nabong for The Intercept.Construction at Medline's facility in Waukegan, Ill. is underway on Jan. 2, 2020. In May 2019, Medline submitted a proposal to build new equipment that would control air pollution, after they came under fire for emitting ethylene oxide, a gas linked to cancer. Pat Nabong for The Intercept.]</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Left/Top: The Ramirez's neighborhood in Waukegan, Ill., is part of a census tract that is at high risk for cancer. Right/Bottom: Construction at Medline's facility in Waukegan, Ill. is underway on Jan. 2, 2020. In May 2019, Medline submitted a proposal to build new equipment that would control air pollution, after they came under fire for emitting ethylene oxide.Photos: Pat Nabong for The Intercept]</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><b>The chemical industry also reacted strongly</b> to the reports on ethylene oxide. In September 2018, after the National Air Toxics Assessment pinpointed the areas affected by the chemical, the American Chemistry Council, or ACC, a trade group that represents U.S. chemical manufacturers, asked IRIS to change its assessment of ethylene oxide. Dow Chemical, the biggest producer of ethylene oxide in the country and the second biggest in the world, also disputed the EPA’s assessment.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Now, political appointees at the EPA are engaged in what appears to be an end-run around the agency’s own science</b>. While IRIS, which is staffed by career scientists, hasn’t officially backed away from its 2016 report, the<b> Trump EPA recently announced that it would not be calling for the level of pollution reductions IRIS laid out during the previous administration,</b> leaving people around the country more vulnerable to the known carcinogen. And that’s only one of the changes made under the Trump administration that promise to weaken protections for Americans’ health, many of which were intended specifically to stave off cancers.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Virtually no sector of the EPA’s work has escaped reversals that will cause disease and death among the U.S. population.</b> The agency scrapped the Clean Power Plan and a rule to improve fuel efficiency standards for cars, depriving the public of not just the climate benefits but also the improvements to air quality and health both would have brought. The EPA rejected its own science in deciding not to ban <b>chlorpyrifos</b>, a pesticide linked to autism and other neurodevelopmental problems in children. Dozens of other EPA rollbacks — including the gutting of the Clean Water Act, the undermining of guidelines on emissions of <b>methane from landfills, the loosening of restrictions on toxic air pollution from industrial facilities, the disbanding of a panel on air pollution — will have dire health consequences, as will the dramatic reduction in the enforcement of environmental laws.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The erosion of these protections may leave Americans at greater risk of all kinds of health effects, including fertility issues, birth defects, and neurodevelopmental problems — all of which have been linked to chemical exposure. But among the most devastating of Trump’s legacies will be an increase in cancers.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump’s Cancer Gang</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">With the election of Donald Trump, a small and previously marginalized group of toxics apologists suddenly and unexpectedly took control over health and environmental regulations in the United States. Considered too fringe, too craven, and too fact-averse for mainstream politics, this closely connected group had long been dismissed for taking the idea of environmental deregulation well past the point of absurdity. Under Trump, the EPA has begun executing some of these extremists’ schemes to undercut the federal government’s ability to protect the public from life-threatening toxic chemicals.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Way back in 1996, a lawyer named Christopher Horner working for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company</span> came up with an ambitious plan to fight back against scientific studies linking cancer to secondhand smoke. Such studies, he realized, were based on the private health data of thousands of individuals. And without that data, scientists would be unable to prove a connection between cigarette smoke and cancer. Imagine if the government required that the data used for regulations be public. If that were the case, none of the crucial private health information used by scientists would be usable. Problem solved!</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">
</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><b>Horner, who worked at the firm then called Bracewell & Giuliani</b>, recognized that the approach had “global applicability to industry” beyond tobacco and could make it nearly impossible to regulate a wide variety of cancer-causing chemicals and pollution. Within a few years, a group funded by the Koch brothers tried to use the strategy to undermine the Clean Air Act, demanding that researchers produce their data so a pivotal study could be repeated.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>That attempt to destroy air pollution protections ultimately failed, and the idea hovered on the sidelines until 2014, when a few Republican House members introduced the “Secret Science Act.”</b> Because most members of Congress recognized the gambit as a bald attempt to subvert science — then-Sen. Barbara Boxer called it “insane,” Sen. Bernie Sanders dismissed it as “laughable” — the bill didn’t come close to becoming law that year or the next, when it was introduced again. Even in mid-2016, the only support for the idea came from the fringe.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>But with the election of Donald Trump later th<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">at year, the prospects of the “secret science” scheme — and others hatched over the years to help free industry of what it saw as profit-hampering regulations — suddenly became deadly serious.</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Trump, who had already been dismissive of science, named Horner and others interested in undermining environmental protections to his EPA transition team and then staffed the agency with political appointees who used to work for the industries they would be regulating. In April 2018, then-EPA administrator Scott Pruitt proposed a rule based on the “secret science” plan, and Horner’s wildest dreams of dismantling environmental and health regulations were set to become reality.</span></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Andrew Wheeler, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), speaks to members of the media after signing the Affordable Clean Energy Rule at EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, June 19, 2019. President Donald Trump is scaling back sweeping Obama-era curbs on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants burning coal, his biggest step yet to fulfill his campaign promise to stop a "war" on the fossil fuel. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesEPA administrator Andrew Wheeler, center, speaks to members of the media at EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C., on June 19, 2019. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images]</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The war on cancer was meant to help banish a disease that by 1970 had become the second-leading cause of death in the United States</b>. The Environmental Protection Agency, created that year, was part of the government’s assault on the rising tide of cancer cases. For some contaminants, such as asbestos and chemicals used in dye-making, the link to cancer was already clear. Scientists were beginning to understand that even tiny amounts of certain chemicals could alter cells, setting off a series of mutations that grow into cancerous tumors. The hope was that the agency could counter increasing cancer rates by limiting environmental exposures.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><b>Yet 50 years after the federal government took up arms against cancer, the disease is still the second-leading cause of death.</b> Even though cigarette smoking, the leading cause of cancer in the 1970s, has declined sharply, the American cancer rate has actually gone up over the past 40 years. Among children, who are particularly vulnerable to environmental exposures, the cancer rate has risen dramatically, increasing nearly 50 percent since 1975</span>.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>During that time, environmental exposures have been mounting. More than 140,000 chemicals and pesticides have been introduced since 1950. Even though the vast majority have not been evaluated for safety, 5,000 of them are made in such great quantities practically everyone is exposed to them. Yet most of the government spending on cancer has remained focused on treating the disease rather than preventing cancer by limiting exposure to carcinogens, such as pesticides and other environmental contaminants.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">graf:</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Left/Top: <b>Federal political contributions by members of the American Chemistry Council, </b>including parent companies and individual employees, 2008 - 2019. Compiled for The Intercept by MapLight. Right/Bottom: Federal political lobbying expenditures by members of the American Chemistry Council, including parent companies and individual employees, 2008 - 2019. Compiled for The Intercept by MapLight.Graphics: Soohee Cho/The Intercept</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><b>Since the first major law that attempted to regulate toxic chemicals passed in 1976, chemical companies have spent billions of dollars on lobbying</b>. The member companies of the American Chemistry Council have spent more than $1.4 billion on lobbying and $77.8 million on political contributions since 2008, according to an analysis by MapLight for this story. The ACC by itself has spent $103 million on lobbying. Though staggering, these numbers are a small fraction of the trillions generated by chemical sales over that same period.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Throughout its 50-year existence, the EPA has faced the daunting task of regulating industries that are far better resourced than the agency</b>.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"> But the effort to rein in powerful companies, which has been met with varying degrees of success under previous administrations, has been largely abandoned under Trump. The EPA, now headed by a former coal lobbyist and run by other former lobbyists, executives, and lawyers from polluting industries, has set about undoing health protections, some of which were specifically designed to prevent cancer.</span></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Trump, who recently tried to take credit for a 2017 dip in cancer mortality rates and announced that he would be “curing childhood cancer very shortly,” at a rally in Cincinnati last August, presumably isn’t interested in actively causing disease and death. But his eagerness to please the polluting chemical and fossil fuel industries that support him comes at the expense of American lives</b>.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A Mess in Texas</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For ethylene oxide, the chemical that Ramirez was exposed to, the road to deregulation passes through Texas. It was there, in the summer of 2018, that regulators led by <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">state toxicologist Michael Honeycutt</span> began working with the producers of ethylene oxide on their own standard for the chemical.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">Honeycutt, who has overseen chemical assessment for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality</span> since 1996, is known for his extremely industry-friendly approach to chemicals</b>. Until this administration, Honeycutt made his name fighting the EPA, challenging the limits the agency tried to place on emissions of chemicals, particularly those released by the oil and gas industry. He has argued that particulate air pollution, which causes lung cancer and other diseases, can help people live longer. And working with his longtime colleague and fellow toxicologist Michael Dourson, Honeycutt loosened state protections on dozens of chemicals — rollbacks that were encouraged and welcomed by chemical manufacturers. Now, under Trump, Honeycutt’s Texas agency has essentially become a shadow EPA and he has assumed a national role in cancer policy.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The assessment of ethylene oxide that Honeycutt oversaw and the TCEQ released last year no doubt pleased the companies that make the chemical — not least because it appears to have been written by them. In June 2018, before issuing a new safety limit for ethylene oxide, Honeycutt and members of the TCEQ’s toxicology staff met in Austin with Joanna Klapacz, a toxicologist from Dow; Bill Gulledge, a senior director at the American Chemistry Council; and three scientists from Exponent, a consulting company paid by the ACC to help fend off regulation of the chemical, among them two toxicologists named Abby Li and M. Jane Teta. Representatives of Shell, BASF, and Balchem, which together with Dow released more than 200,000 pounds of ethylene oxide over the previous six years, joined the conversation by phone, according to emails of TCEQ staff released in response to a FOIA from the Sierra Club.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dr. Mike Honeycutt is an Air Toxicologist for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the world's second largest environmental agency. RALPH BARRERA/ AMERICAN-STATESMANTexas state toxicologist Michael Honeycutt. Photo: Ralph Barrera/Austin American-Statesman]</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At the meeting, a presentation from the American Chemistry Council recommended adopting estimates of safety thresholds from a paper written by Ciriaco Valdez-Flores, a Texas-based consultant who received funding from both the ACC and the Ethylene Oxide Sterilization Association. The TCEQ had considered — and rejected — the paper in an assessment of ethylene oxide it released less than two years earlier because, it said, Valdez-Flores hadn’t captured all the cancer risk from ethylene oxide. Although an EPA summary of the 2016 IRIS report on ethylene oxide characterized its confidence in the <b>breast cancer data as “particularly high</b>,” and noted that the breast cancer component “is based on over 200 incident cases for which the investigators also had information on other potential breast cancer risk factors,” the Valdez-Flores paper didn’t include the breast cancer studies in its evaluation. And in a presentation to the group, Teta also argued against the inclusion of the breast cancer data.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Gulledge, who manages the ACC’s panel on ethylene oxide, emailed TCEQ toxicologist Jessica Myers after the meeting and offered to draft the assessment of the chemical for the state agency. “Thank you for hosting us this week,” Gulledge wrote. “We are working on several ‘white papers’ on the risk assessment modeling and our alternative approach that should be ready in the next month or so with the goal to have a draft risk assessment manuscript ready shortly thereafter.”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Asked about the email, Tom Flanagin, director of product communications for the American Chemistry Council, denied that the group drafted the risk assessment for the TCEQ.</b> “Mr. Gulledge is referring to a separate, independent effort … for publication in a peer reviewed journal. TCEQ acted independently in preparing their risk assessment.” Flanagin did not explain why Gulledge would be communicating with TCEQ about a purportedly separate, independent effort. Ryan Vise, director of external relations for the TCEQ, also denied that the ACC drafted or edited the state agency’s assessment. Exponent did not respond to requests for comment.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Yet the proposed ethylene oxide standard that TCEQ released this summer included many of the elements that the ACC and its scientific consultants recommended at the Texas meeting. The state agency omitted the breast cancer studies and adopted the paper by Valdez-Flores as its key study, just as the industry scientists had recommended.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And minutes from a meeting of the Ethylene Oxide Sterilization Association held the next month also indicate that the chemical industry, led by Teta and Li, who were both at the Texas meeting, drafted the state’s assessment of the chemical. According to the minutes, first reported by the Chicago Tribune, the assessment, which would provide an alternative to the IRIS ethylene oxide value, was funded and led by the industry groups. “Jane Teta and Abby Li (Exponent) will be leading” the recasting of the assessment to the industry’s liking, the minutes explained, and “TCEQ has indicated its receptiveness to considering an alternative to the IRIS value.”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">The result of this collaboration between the ethylene oxide industry and Texas was a proposed standard that was 3,500 times weaker than the IRIS threshold. </span>The Texas number was also 50 times less protective than the standard the state had released only two years earlier. While Texas offered no scientific reason for weakening its 2017 standard, regulatory developments can help explain the oddly timed reassessment: the EPA’s recognition of ethylene oxide as a carcinogen in 2018 had led to public pressure on companies that emit the gas, which had in turn led to the industry group to ask the TCEQ to issue an alternate standard.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Just as the ACC has done, the Texas agency also attempted to justify its new number by arguing that IRIS’s calculations couldn’t be correct because the body produces some ethylene oxide on its own — an idea dismissed by scientists who are not supported by the ethylene oxide industry.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“They make a big deal of endogenous exposure and say that’s why EPA numbers can’t be meaningful,” said Jennifer Jinot, a toxicologist who worked for EPA for 26 years, 12 of which she spent working on the IRIS assessment of ethylene oxide. Jinot described the TCEQ’s focus on purportedly natural levels of the chemical as “disingenuous” and said it was just one of several tricks the state agency used to make the chemical appear safer than it actually is.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“Texas has done something completely unreasonable,” said Jinot. “They’re just low-balling the whole thing.”</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">In an emailed response to questions, Dow spokesperson Ashley Mendoza acknowledged that Joanna Klapacz attended the 2018 meeting at TCEQ, but noted that “she was not part of the technical presentation.</span>” The email also said that “Dow has continued to improve our [ethylene oxide] emission reduction as part of our own sustainability goals. As science advances, our ongoing collaboration with other manufacturers and multiple agencies continues to ensure maximum human safety while delivering products consumers want and need.”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The TCEQ responded to questions for this piece with an email saying that its assessment of ethylene oxide was “on the side of the best available science.” The email also said that the more protective ethylene oxide standard, which the state agency issued in March 2017, was never intended to be permanent, but instead was “to be used until a thorough multi-year systematic review and dose-response assessment could be conducted under the extensive TCEQ toxicity factor guidelines.”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The proposed safety level could have a dramatic effect on people in Texas</b>, <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">where at least 27 facilities emit more than 48 tons of ethylene oxide every year. At one of these facilities, a Huntsman Petrochemical Plant in Conroe Texas, the EPA estimated the cancer risk due to the release of ethylene oxide and other chemicals to be <b>3,000 in a million, according to a risk assessment report the agency released in December. Nationwide, the average risk of cancer from air pollution is 32 in a million.</b></span></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Texas standard could also weaken protections for people far beyond Texas, since states often consider one another’s regulations when issuing their own. “It could mess with the legal landscape globally,” said Tracey Woodruff, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, San Francisco school of medicine who studies how chemical exposures affect health. “Even if other states don’t adopt Texas’ levels, they tend to average them.”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Scenes from Freeport, Texas on Wednesday, December 18th, 2019. Todd Spoth for The Intercept.Dow Chemical’s plant can be seen just beyond homes in Freeport, Texas, on Dec. 18, 2019. Photo: Todd Spoth for The Intercept]</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>While Honeycutt was once one of EPA’s main opponents, the Trump administration is now relying on his agency’s industry-biased assessment of ethylene oxide to guide the federal government’s approach to the carcinogen. </b>IRIS spent years calculating its safety threshold for ethylene oxide and noted in its 2016 report that scientists have been studying the chemical’s “DNA-damaging properties” since the 1940s. Yet in early November, the EPA indicated it would not be calling for the reduction of emissions as much as the IRIS report would suggest is necessary. Instead, the EPA’s proposed rule, which it is required to finalize by March, calculated risk levels that were six to nine times weaker than those issued in 2016. An explanatory document released by EPA cited the Texas estimate as well as the request for correction from the American Chemistry Council and attributed its decision to change its safety level to “uncertainties” in the science.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The people who will be affected by the weakening of ethylene oxide protections are disproportionately poor and nonwhite</b>, as the EPA’s own analysis shows. While the U.S. population overall is 12 percent African American, the areas with elevated cancer risks due to ethylene oxide are 21 percent African American, according to the document the agency released in November. Latinos are also at greater risk of exposure, making up 18 percent of the U.S. population and 31 percent of those living in areas with elevated cancer risk due to the chemical.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Those demographics aren’t unusual. While black and Latino people produce less pollution, people of color have a higher burden of pollution and are more likely to live near industrial facilities. Penny Dryden, who grew up near several polluting plants in the Rosegate section of Wilmington, Delaware, was for years unaware of the disparity. Dryden, 62, has had cancer three times. The first, breast cancer, was diagnosed when she was just 19. But this seemed to be a fact of life in her mostly African American neighborhood. Many of her friends and relatives as well as both of her parents had cancer.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2018, a facility near Dryden’s home that makes chemicals used in antifreeze and some processed foods released so much ethylene oxide into the air that the nearby Delaware Bridge had to be temporarily shut down. That was a temporary inconvenience to commuters, but for people who live within a three-mile radius of the plant — 52 percent of whom are people of color, and 31 percent of whom are below the poverty level — the chemical poses an ongoing health threat.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Although the cancers have taken a toll, Dryden still considers herself lucky. “Lots of people here have died of it, whole families, so many of my friends,” said Dryden, who has come to recognize and fight against the extra burden of both pollution and disease that are clustered in several communities of color in Delaware. And while she has no experience living in a pollution-free area, she feels certain the people making decisions that affect pollution levels around the country have no idea how it feels to live with polluted air. “The people in D.C. don’t go into communities like ours,” said Dryden. “They probably have never heard of Rosegate.”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For people like Dryden and Ramirez, who live near the facilities around the country — more than 100 — that emit the carcinogenic gas, the weakening of the ethylene oxide standard will result in even greater risks of cancer. “By undermining the way risk assessments are done, Texas has allowed these plants to put out more pollution because it’ll look like it’s safe when it’s not,” said Woodruff, the reproductive health professor. “They’re resetting the bar to allow more pollution going out into the world.”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Children will also disproportionately bear the burden of this additional pollution</b>. As the EPA has pointed out, children may also be especially vulnerable to the mutagenic effects of ethylene oxide — as they are for other carcinogens. Simon Strong came to recognize kids’ particular vulnerability after his son, Oliver, died suddenly in June 2015. An exuberant 12-year-old who played saxophone and tended goal for his soccer team, Oliver was diagnosed with leukemia a week after he complained of his first symptom: a headache. He died just 36 hours later, leaving his parents bereft and filled with questions.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Oliver-1578521871Oliver Strong. Photo: Courtesy of Simon Strong]</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We were there with his oncologist in floods of tears, and I said, ‘What caused this?’ and she just burst out, ‘It’s the environment,’” Strong remembered recently. He had no idea what she meant and had never thought much about cancer before Oliver’s illness. But after his son’s death, Strong, a reporter turned investigator, began researching the causes of pediatric cancer. He read with dismay about the alarming numbers of soccer players, particularly goalies, who have developed cancer; about the connection between cancer and Roundup, a weed killer he had used liberally in the family’s backyard in Florida; and about several pediatric cancer clusters in his home state.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The problem, as he learned, was also worsening. While pediatric cancer rates were increasing overall, there had been a particularly large jump in the number of cases in infants and children under 5. Yet the government seemed to be doing little to understand what was causing these cancers or to prevent them.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So Strong launched a project along with the Baylor College of Medicine to collect information about the environmental exposures of children with cancer from their families. It’s work he wishes the federal government was doing. But as Strong’s urgency about the problem was growing, the Trump administration was going in the opposite direction, unraveling the little work that was being done on the issue.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Indeed, in May, the EPA decided to pull its funding for a network of centers that had researched the effects of various substances, including chemicals, on children</span>. <b>One of those research hubs, the Center for Integrative Research on Childhood Leukemia and the Environment at Berkeley, had found that exposure to pesticides, traffic emissions, tobacco smoke, and solvents are associated with childhood leukemia, the most common children’s cancer</b>. Staff there were continuing to research the environmental causes of the disease and to educate parents and physicians, according to the physician and epidemiologist who directs the center, Catherine Metayer. “There is still so much work to do,” said Metayer. But the center lost the $1.5 million per year it had been receiving from the EPA and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Barring intervention from Congress, the last of its federal money will be spent by this summer. “After that, our work will have to stop,” she said.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Known Killers</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">The closure of the pediatric environmental health centers is only one of many backward steps we’ve taken in our decades-long battle against cancer and cancer-causing exposures. The first major one came after the EPA attempted to use the <b>Toxic Substances Control Act to ban asbestos in 1989</b>. The ban was exactly what the EPA and the chemicals law were created to do: protect Americans from a substance that had been known for decades to cause cancer. But after the agency began the process, asbestos mining and manufacturing companies sued. <b>A court struck down most of the government’s ban in 1991 and, since then, the agency has been wary of taking on regulatory battles it might not win. As a result, the EPA has not regulated a single chemical under the law in the almost 30 years after the 1991 ruling</b></span><b>.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>So, while 67 countries have already banned asbestos, we’re still importing it. And last year, the Trump EPA decided — against the advice of its own scientists — to continue to allow its use. </b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In a statement, an EPA spokesperson wrote that the agency “along with our state partners, is covering ALL bases under our legal authority to protect people’s health from asbestos exposure.” The spokesperson went on to explain an April 2019 rule that allows the agency to restrict or prohibit the use of products containing <b>asbestos. But she declined to say why the EPA had chosen not to ban the substance altogether, as its own scientists and attorneys had recommended.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>While the continued use of asbestos has deadly consequences, causing an estimated 39,000 deaths in the U.S</b>. each year, it is just one of the chemicals the Trump administration is now in a position to greenlight. In 2016, Congress tried to improve our abysmal record on chemicals by fixing the broken Toxic Substances Control Act. The update of the law aimed to bring about greater protections by requiring the EPA to identify and restrict the most dangerous substances.<b> But under Trump, the opposite is happening </b>— and the opportunity to fix chemical regulation, 40 years in the making, has instead turned into another massive step backward. The assessment process, begun in the Obama era, is being carried out by an administration that is friendlier to the chemical industry than any other administration in history.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“<b>There is no daylight between this EPA and what the big chemical companies want,</b>” said Daniel Rosenberg, director of the federal toxics program for the Natural Resources Defense Council, or NRDC. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">“Whatever the term is for government by corporation, that’s what we’ve been living under for three years.</span>” Lots of small decisions are involved in implementing the new law, including the choice of which chemicals to assess, what sources of information about them to use, and how to quantify the risks they pose. “And these details are all essentially being worked out by companies like Dow and DuPont and Chemours,” said Rosenberg. “It’s the worst-case scenario.”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Asbestos is now one of 10 compounds the EPA began assessing in 2016 under the new law. In August, the EPA announced that it was considering assessing an additional 20 chemicals and added another five in September. How these chemicals are assessed will affect Americans’ exposure levels and ultimately their risks for a range of health outcomes.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Scenes from Freeport, Texas on Wednesday, December 18th, 2019.Todd Spoth for The Intercept.Dow Chemical’s Freeport plant is the largest chemical production facility in the western hemisphere. Photo: Todd Spoth for The Intercept]</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Having the Trump administration at the helm during a once-in-a-generation reassessment of toxic pollutants is especially disastrous for the effort to protect Americans from cancer.</b> Of the 35 chemicals the EPA is now scrutinizing under the updated TSCA, 19 are widely considered by researchers to be carcinogenic. While only a tiny exposure can set off disease, more than 135 million pounds of these carcinogens were released in this country between 2014 and 2018, according to the most recent data from the EPA. And how dangerous they are found to be may ultimately impact federal and state limits on their use.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Obama administration officials were scrupulous when they began the assessment process back in 2016</b>. “They clearly said we have to look at all the ways people are exposed because if we ignore even a single pathway, that can result in the difference between acceptable and unacceptable risk,” said Eve Gartner, an attorney who directs the toxics program at Earthjustice. But when Trump appointees came in to replace them at the EPA, that changed. Nancy Beck, who had been trying to convince the EPA to narrow the range of exposures it considered in chemical assessments when she was director of regulatory policy for the American Chemistry Council, joined the EPA in April 2017 and remade the rule exactly as industry wanted it.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Just as the environmental advocates feared, the first of the assessments under Beck’s rule, which were released over the past several months and will likely be finalized within the coming year, have minimized the risks posed by chemicals. “We’re seeing massive exclusions of known pathways for exposure,” said Gartner. “<b>EPA is finding that chemicals that are universally understood to present massive risk are fine.”</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"><b>Environmental groups, including Earthjustice, NRDC, and the Environmental Defense Fund, sued the EPA</b>, arguing that the agency was wrong to rule out certain pathways of chemical exposures. In November, a federal appeals court agreed with them. If the ruling stands, EPA will be forced to consider exposures to chemicals through uses that have been phased out, which will affect the assessment of asbestos, for example, and<b> PFOA, an industrial contaminant found in drinking water, even though the chemical is no longer used in the U.S.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Excluding consideration of certain exposures is just one of the ways industry insiders at the EPA appear to be underestimating the harms of toxic substances. “The specifics vary from one chemical to another, but by ignoring certain evidence, EPA uses the risk assessment process to put its thumb on the scales and come out with a result that is weaker and less health protective than it would otherwise be,” said Richard Denison, lead senior scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund. “Each time we see one of these assessments, there are ways in which the science has been played with.”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Denison pointed to the EPA’s recent handling of a likely carcinogen called <b>1,4-dioxane</b>, which is used to make other chemicals and forms spontaneously in some shampoos, cosmetics, and cleaning products. In 2013, IRIS set a safety threshold for the chemical based, in part, on studies showing that female mice exposed to it developed cancerous tumors in their livers. Yet when the EPA released its draft risk assessment of 1,4-dioxane under the new TSCA law in June, “they conveniently omitted those tumors,” said Denison. “They removed the most sensitive endpoint and as a result came up with five-fold less protective risk value.”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Another dishonest technique the EPA has used to deem chemicals safe is to change safety thresholds when chemicals don’t meet them.</b> Although the 1963 Clean Air Act mandated that the lifetime cancer risk to an average individual should be no greater than 1 in a million, since 2008 the agency has used a much less protective risk standard for carcinogens in the air: 1 in 10,000. NRDC sued in an effort to get the EPA under George W. Bush to stick with the more protective number, but a three-judge panel that included Brett Kavanaugh ruled against the environmental group in 2008. “They gutted the law and set the course for the next two decades,” said John Walke, the NRDC attorney who argued the case. When testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2018, Kavanaugh lied about the case, describing it as one in which he’d ruled for environmentalists.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Although previous administrations have used the 1-in-a-million standard when evaluating the safety of toxic chemicals, the Trump administration recently began using the 1-in-10,000 standard, </span>Denison said. In several recent reports issued under the updated chemicals law, including a draft assessment of the deadly paint stripper methylene chloride, the EPA inexplicably used this lower bar for determining when a cancer rate for workers is unacceptable. <b>“It looks to me like some scientists were doing the number-crunching, and somebody came up and said, ‘Yikes, look at all this risk. How do we make it go away?’” said Denison.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The EPA insists that it “is following the legal process in TSCA, which ensures that our risk evaluations are transparent and include a robust review of the available science,” according to an emailed statement from an EPA spokesperson. The statement also said, “The draft risk evaluations released so far represent the agency’s preliminary conclusions on these chemicals. EPA goes beyond what TSCA requires by peer reviewing the risk evaluations it releases in order to increase public transparency in the risk evaluation process and receive expert feedback on the science that underlies the risk determinations. If EPA’s final risk evaluations find there are unreasonable risks associated with these chemicals, the agency will propose actions to address those risks within the timeframe required by TSCA.”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Scenes from Freeport, Texas on Wednesday, December 18th, 2019.Todd Spoth for The Intercept.Dow’s Freeport facility released more than 200 air pollutants in 2017 and has violated its permits in every quarter of the past three years, making it a high-priority violator of the Clean Air Act. Photo: Todd Spoth for The Intercept]</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>A Polluter’s Paradise</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>There may be no better place to see the consequences of the unraveling of chemical regulation than in Texas. </b>Home to roughly two-thirds of the nation’s petrochemical industry and a fast-growing number of factories that make plastic and its feedstocks, Texas is a hub for the production of carcinogenic compounds as well as a leader in the movement to weaken regulations of them. For years, Texas has been a polluter’s paradise. As the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries have exploded throughout the state, the TCEQ’s Honeycutt has presided over an easing of restrictions on their emissions even as his staff has been reduced.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>With 1.7 million new cases estimated for 2019 in the United States, cancer is a particular problem in Freeport, Texas. </b>Rates of Hodgkin lymphoma are elevated in this small town on the Gulf Coast, as are cancers of the liver and bile duct, lung, stomach, and nasal cavity and middle ear, according to a report that the Texas Department of State Health Services quietly released in 2018.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The report makes no mention of pollution as a possible cause of the elevated number of cancer cases, yet Freeport is home to the largest chemical production facility in the western hemisphere</b>: 12,800 acres of holding tanks, machinery, canals, deep-water ports, and pipelines, owned by Dow. Alongside it are chemical production facilities owned by other companies, including BASF, Shintech, Huntsman, and the <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">Olin Corporation, the largest chlor-alkali producer in the world, </span>which bought part of its Freeport manufacturing site from Dow in 2015.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Dow’s Freeport plant produces more than 40 billion pounds of chemicals and other products, including the components of much of the world’s plastics.</b> In the process, the plant emits hundreds of toxic chemicals. The facility released more than 200 air pollutants in 2017 and has violated its permits in every quarter of the past three years, making it a high-priority violator of the Clean Air Act. Between 2015 and 2018, the <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">complex emitted more than 3 million pounds of unpermitted air pollution on top of what it was allowed to release</span>, according to a report by the Environmental Integrity Project.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Cancer-2-08-1578686568On-site manufacturing releases of 18 of the 19 carcinogens currently being reviewed by the EPA under the revised 2016 Toxic Substances Control Act. All data drawn from the EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory, 2014 – 2018, as reported by manufacturers. Locations include facilities within 50 miles. Data does not include releases at waste disposal/recycling facilities or on-site underground injection wells. Graphic: Soohee Cho/The Intercept]</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Among the pollutants being released by Dow in Freeport are 11 carcinogens that are now being assessed or considered for assessment by the EPA under the new toxic chemicals law,</b> according to EPA data. Of those chemicals, five have been shown to increase levels of the very cancers that are elevated in Freeport. Over the past five years, the Dow plant released more than 221,000 pounds of these five chemicals, including 1,2-dichloropropane, which causes bile duct cancer and is a probable cause of cancer of the nasal cavity and inner ear; 1,3-butadiene, which has been shown to increase rates of stomach cancers (and was recently released in an explosion at another chemical plant on the Texas coast); 1,1,2-trichloroethane and 1,1-dichloroethane, both of which have been linked to liver cancer in mice; and 1,2-dichloroethane, a probable carcinogen that has been linked to stomach, liver, and lung cancers.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">But initial reports that the EPA recently released on the chemicals it’s investigating omit information that the agency has in its own databases about where and in what quantities these chemicals are produced, which companies make them, and how they’re used. As a result, most people in Freeport — and other polluted communities — do not realize that the industrial facilities near them are releasing dangerous amounts of these carcinogens. Also, because they omit this critical information, the assessments themselves may not reflect the true dangers posed by these substan</span>ces.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Dow has done little to address the prevalence of cancer in the area, though the company did sponsor a “Sparkles and Spurs” fundraiser in 2018 to help buy a CT scanner for the CHI St. Luke’s Health cance</b>r center in Brazosport, Texas, which is just a 15-minute drive from the Dow Chemical plant. Some residents call it the “Dow Cancer Center” because it was built on land donated by the giant chemical company. The evening of food, fun, and “foot stompin’” country music helped the center purchase the CT scanner, which the hospital is still using to diagnose new cancer cases.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Although they are more likely to get certain cancers, residents of Freeport — where the median household income is less than $37,000 a year — may have a difficult time getting care at the local hospital. “The Dow cancer center won’t take indigent patients,</b>” said Melanie Oldham, a Freeport resident and physical therapist who said that she has worked with hundreds of clients in the area who have had cancer. “People who don’t have good insurance end up having to drive back and forth to either Galveston or to MD Anderson, which is an hour away.” Many of them are workers at the Dow plant, according to Oldham. “These are great jobs until you’re 50 or so,” she said. “That’s when a lot of my patients develop cancer.”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Physical therapist, Melanie Oldham, in her Freeport, Texas home, Wednesday, December 18th, 2019.Todd Spoth for The Intercept.Physical therapist Melanie Oldham at her home in Freeport, Texas, on Dec. 18, 2019. Photo: Todd Spoth for The Intercept]</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Oldham pushed for years to get the state to conduct the cancer incidence study it released in 2018. The results confirmed her hunch that cancer rates in Freeport continued to exceed state and national rates. But the vindication brought no relief. “Dow could prevent a lot of these cancers,” said Oldham, “but instead it’s ‘Let’s put money into the local cancer center.’ It’s all about PR for them.”</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The CHI St. Luke’s Health-Brazosport Hospital emailed a statement in response to inquiries from The Intercept saying, “CHI St. Luke’s Health is committed to serving all in our community including the poor and vulnerable. We have a consistent stewardship policy across our division that outlines our process for caring for underserved and vulnerable patients who can’t afford healthcare services.”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The Texas Department of State Health Services said it has not investigated the environmental causes of the increased number of cancer cases in Freeport.</b> “Our protocol is to continue to monitor the situation and re-evaluate as more data becomes available,” department spokesperson Chris Van Deusen wrote in an email to The Intercept. In a separate email, Van Deusen wrote that the health department could not provide any earlier reports on cancer rates in Freeport because it doesn’t retain them after four years.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For Clarence Thompson, cancer came as no surprise. Many of the people he worked with at the Dow plant in Freeport have already died of the disease. Thompson, who was employed by a company that contracted with Dow, did pipe-fitting, welding, and machine operation at the Texas plant for more than 25 years and worked there when a cluster of brain cancer cases was identified among workers. Back then Thompson was in near constant motion, according to Eve Thompson, his wife of 43 years. “Even when he’d come in from work, he’d keep working, mow the yard, or tinker with something,” she recently recalled. “I did not marry a lazy man.”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Clarence Thompson stands outside of his Brazoria, Texas home assisted by a walking stick, on Wednesday, December 18th, 2019.Todd Spoth for The Intercept.Clarence Thompson stands outside of his home in Brazoria, Texas, assisted by a walking stick, on Dec. 18, 2019. Photo: Todd Spoth for The Intercept]</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The front yard of Clarence Thompson’s home in Brazoria, Texas, Wednesday, December 18th, 2019.Todd Spoth for The Intercept.Willie Leona Willow applies lotion to her father, Clarence Thompson’s face prior to going outside, at Clarence’s home in Brazoria, Texas, Wednesday, December 18th, 2019.Todd Spoth for The Intercept.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Left/Top: The front yard of the Thompson’s home in Brazoria. Right/Bottom: Thompson's daughter, Willie Leona Willow, applies lotion to her father's face prior to going outside.Photos: Todd Spoth for The Intercept]</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At 68, Thompson still wants to work, but these days he can barely walk. He has trouble remembering things and difficulty eating, and suffers from near constant pain in his lower back. At first Thompson thought his symptoms were just part of growing older. But Eve suspected that something was wrong. And when she took him to a doctor in June, he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the white blood cells. In the months since, Thompson, who is almost 6 feet tall, has lost 50 pounds and has been hospitalized with several life-threatening infections. <b>Thompson said he was exposed to several carcinogens while working at the Dow plant, including ethylene oxide and asbestos, both of which have been linked to multiple myeloma.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Yet even as his vitality is draining away, Thompson worries about the dangers that chemicals from the plant may pose both to other workers and neighbors.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Residents of Freeport are not the only people living dangerously near facilities that emit the carcinogenic chemicals now under scrutiny from the EPA. An analysis performed for this story by Material Research, an environmental data analysis company, shows that the chemicals are being released in particularly large quantities in eight hubs for th<b>e production and disposal of plastic. Among the most polluted hotspots are industrial areas in Lake Charles and Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Port Arthur and Houston, Texas; El Dorado, Arkansas; and Louisville and Calvert City, Kentucky.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Many people living in these highly polluted communities don’t know what chemicals they’re breathing, let alone the dangers they present, according to Wilma Subra, an environmental consultant who has worked in all of these hotspots. “But when you go there and say these are the chemicals and these are their known human health impacts, people start saying Oh, I have that, I have that, and I have that,” said Subra. “Most of those facilities have been there two or three generations and people are able to tell you not just what cancers they have but what cancers their parents and aunts and uncles had.”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">More Leukemia, Please</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">While some carcinogenic chemicals that have already gone through the IRIS process are getting a more forgiving assessment through TSCA, the EPA is also refusing to release one IRIS report — on formaldehyde — even as it performs a new assessment of the chemical</span>. Formaldehyde, used in building materials, glue insulation, and fabric, has been widely recognized as a cause of leukemia. In 2018, IRIS’s assessment of the chemical, which was expected to confirm the link to the blood cancer, <b>was ready for “imminent release,” as then-EPA administrator Scott Pruitt told the Senate.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Formaldehyde already accounts for more than half the nationwide cancer risk from air pollution.</b> Because it’s so widespread — more than 93 million pounds have been released in the U.S. since 2014 — and because its safety threshold is now 30 years old and evidence of its carcinogenicity has mounted during that time, updating the number IRIS calculated would likely increase the official cancer risk in many places around the country and drive up the number of census tracts where the cancer rate is officially problematic. But in April, EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler announced that the agency would not be releasing the IRIS report on the chemical, which had been in the works for more than a decade.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The IRIS assessment was one of 11 the agency withheld from publication, according to a March report from the Government Accountability Office</b>. (In its statement, the EPA described these reports as “reduced from the IRIS workflow.”) Wheeler said that the EPA would instead assess formaldehyde through the new toxic chemicals law, thus indefinitely delaying the bad news about formaldehyde and cancer.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">It’s worth noting that the Trump appointee who now heads the EPA’s Office of Research Development where IRIS assessments are produced, <b>David Dunlap, used to work for Koch Industries. Georgia-Pacific Chemicals, a subsidiary of Koch, is one of the country’s largest producers of formaldehyde</b>. Before working for Koch, Dunlap handled regulation for the Chlorine Institute, a trade group to which Dow and Olin belong. Dunlap also served on the ACC’s formaldehyde panel, which has disputed the link between the chemical and leukemia. <b>Nancy Beck, the political appointee at the EPA who rewrote the rule determining how the agency would assess chemicals, also worked for the ACC. And David Fischer,</b> the person who replaced her at the agency after she left this summer, is an ACC alum as well, having spent a decade working there on the TSCA.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Honeycutt, who gave the keynote address at the ACC’s “premier” regulatory conference in 2018,</b> also has strong ties to the trade group. Even though he remains in Texas, Honeycutt has had an outsized impact on chemical policy beyond the state and is in close touch with EPA staff. Before the TCEQ publicly released its ethylene oxide assessment,<b> </b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><b>Honeycutt </b>sent it to Anne Idsal, a former TCEQ employee who is now running the EPA’s Air Office,</span> <b>which is steering the agency’s policy on ethylene oxide. A Texan with close ties to the oil and gas industry, Idsal’s father owned the ranch where Dick Cheney shot a Texas attorney while hunting quail.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Honeycutt also emailed an explanation of the assessment to Erin Chancellor, another former TCEQ employee who now heads the EPA’s regional office in Texas</b>, telling her to “hold it close.” Texas’s top toxicologist may have written about ethylene oxide to other EPA staff and industry representatives, but the Texas agency has refused to provide some documents in response to a<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Sierra Club public records request specifically asking for communications between TCEQ staff and a long list of interested parties, including the American Petroleum Institute, the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, Chevron Phillips, Exxon Mobil, Formosa, Georgia-Pacific, and Dow/DuPont</span>. In September, after the Sierra Club pushed to get the documents the TCEQ had withheld, the attorney general of Texas ruled in its favor. <b>In response, the TCEQ took the unusual step of suing the attorney general rather than complying with the decision. That case is now pending.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Asked about Honeycutt’s emails to Idsal and Chancellor, the TCEQ’s spokesperson wrote in an email that “TCEQ routinely interacts and share information with EPA.” His email also said that the state attorney general didn’t rule on whether certain documents “fall within exceptions to disclosure under the Texas Public Information Act” and that the only way to get him to address the question was to sue.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Meanwhile, Honeycutt is also making changes that will affect how all cancer-causing chemicals are treated throughout the country.</b> In 2017, then-EPA administrator Scott Pruitt named Honeycutt <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">chair of the agency’s influential <b>Science Advisory Board</b></span>. The group is supposed to provide scientific advice to the administrator, but under Trump it has been stacked with industry apologists. This summer, Honeycutt, along with fellow advisory board members from Dow Chemical, Exxon Mobil, and the American Chemistry Council, quietly began proposing profound and lasting changes to the EPA’s cancer guidelines.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Throughout the EPA’s almost 50-year history, the agency has held that there is no safe level of a carcinogen.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> But Honeycutt and his colleagues on the advisory board have proposed reversing that assumption. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“They want to flip it so there can be safe levels of cancer-causing chemicals,”</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> said Jen Sass, a senior scientist at NRDC, who sees the move as a ruse for allowing companies to freely release pollutants. “Their presumption is that low levels of carcinogens aren’t harmful and might even be good for you. And industry wants to define low level as whatever level you’re exposed to.”</span></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In an emailed response to questions about the cancer guidelines, a spokesperson for the agency wrote, “The EPA is currently considering the SAB member’s individual comments as well as those provided by the public as they consider next steps for this project.”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Because the nation’s cancer guidelines are rewritten very infrequently — the most recent version was published in 2005 — Sass fears that the new ones will have an enduring impact. “Guidances like this last for decades,” she said. “I don’t know how this could be undone later.”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[A white substance resembling steam billows out of Vantage's factory in Gurnee, Ill. on Jan. 2, 2020. Vantage is one of the factories in Lake County that emits ethylene oxide, a gas known to cause cancer. Pat Nabong for The Intercept.Steam billows out of Vantage’s factory in Gurnee, Ill., on Jan. 2, 2020. Vantage is one of the factories in Lake County that emits ethylene oxide. Photo: Pat Nabong for The Intercept]</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Making America Sick Again</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Other hard-to-reverse plans that could result in increased cancers rates throughout the country are also quietly moving ahead. On December 31, the deregulatory dream of tobacco industry attorney Christopher Horner took another step closer to becoming national policy.</span> <b>While Trump was preparing to ring in the new year at Mar-a-Lago with Rudy Giuliani, Honeycutt released an analysis of the proposed secret science rule — now rebranded “Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science” — on behalf of the EPA’s science advisory board. </b>The EPA now has to answer several questions the board posed in that document. <b>Once it is finalized, the rule will have to undergo a 60-day comment period. But after that, the once pie-in-the-sky scheme is likely to become the law of the land.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">If and when it does get finalized and survives the legal challenges it will certainly face, the secret science rule will be even more crippling to health-based regulations than Horner first envisioned.</span> His original idea was to require that studies used to make regulatory decisions be reproducible — which sounds fine in theory until you understand that they are often based on confidential private health data of thousands of individuals. And an earlier version of the EPA’s proposed rule called for placing these restrictions only on certain studies. But the EPA amended the proposal last year to require that all raw data and models underlying regulatory decisions be made available for reanalysis, with exceptions possible only on the administrator’s whim.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The requirement would mean that even science that was used to guide past regulations may be up for grabs</b>. The EPA’s 2016 ethylene oxide assessment was partially based on breast cancer incidence data that contained confidential personal information, so under the proposed secret science rule that data could be ruled illegitimate. The rule could also undercut the utility of all the data that Simon Strong is collecting in honor of his son. Because that information will be collected in accordance with standard privacy protocols, it wouldn’t be considered in regulatory decision-making.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">And the EPA could be prevented from basing any regulation on studies of cancer clusters like the one near the Dow plant in Freeport, Texas. “The way you show a cluster is to go to a community and enter their confidential health information and compare that to other areas,” said Andrew Rosenberg, director of the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, one of dozens of groups that oppose the proposed rule. “But you wouldn’t be able to release that raw data because it’s confidential.</span>”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The rule could render other groundbreaking science useless for protecting public health, too, such as studies showing the link between air pollution and lung cancer, between smoking and various cancers, or between the industrial contaminant PFOA and testicular and kidney cancer.</b> The change would mark a profound shift both for the U.S. government and for the American people. “It’s saying what’s important is no longer the public interest but the industrial interest,” said Rosenberg. “Cancer is the most obvious and feared sign of ignoring public interest. And this will lead to more cancer.”</font></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div></div></div><div style=""><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2018/10/tony-cox-trumps-air-pollution-adviser-clean-air-saves-no-lives/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.motherjones.com/environment<b>/2018/10</b>/tony-cox-trumps-air-pollution-adviser-clean-air-saves-no-lives/</font></a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">reveal]</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style=""><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> spring, air pollution researchers from around the world gathered to discuss their latest findings. Among them were scientists who led landmark studies linking smog and soot to deadly health problems.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So it was shocking when one speaker essentially told everyone in the room that they were wrong.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In his half-hour presentation, Tony Cox, a risk analyst from Denver, claimed that researchers are overstating the dangers of air pollution.</b> He explained how his own statistical modeling of health data found no connection between dirty air and respiratory problems or heart attacks.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Scientists and others at the Health Effects Institute annual conference were appalled. Some added to their speeches what they had thought was obvious: Yes, air pollution really is dangerous.</font></p><div class="incontent-promo" id="incontent_promo_1" style="background: rgb(242, 243, 239); box-sizing: inherit; position: relative; left: -358.156px; height: auto; width: 100vw; margin-bottom: 1rem; clear: both;"><section id="mj-incontent-ad-widget-4" class="widget mj-incontent-ad-widget" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="incontent-ad-container" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 1300px; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px;" /></section></div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Cox might have been just shrugged off as a provocateur, a denier of established science. But he leads the Trump administration’s panel of scientists that offers advice on how to protect the health of about 126 million Americans who live in smoggy and sooty places.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In that role, he’s in a prime position to spread his skepticism of the science of air pollution: The Environmental Protection Agency is poised <a href="https://cfpub.epa.gov/si/si_public_record_report.cfm?Lab=NCEA&dirEntryId=341593" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">this year</a> to review its health standards for fine particles known as PM2.5 and ozone, the main component of smog.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">These decisions, scientists say, literally could mean life and death for people in cities across the United States.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The EPA’s seven-member Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, which has been completely remade under President Donald Trump, is responsible for reviewing the science and advising the EPA on what level of pollution is unhealthy. Cox was appointed a year ago, and earlier this month, all remaining holdovers from the Obama administration were replaced with <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/acting-administrator-wheeler-announces-science-advisors-key-clean-air-act-committee" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">new appointees</a>, including two who also downplay the threats of breathing polluted air.</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Powerful industries—such as power companies, vehicle manufacturers and oil companies—oppose tighter health standards because they would force states to adopt costly rules that cut emissions.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">According to documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, <b>Cox was nominated for the science board’s top position by the US Chamber of Commerce, </b>which has <a href="https://www.uschamber.com/issue-brief/ozone-national-ambient-air-quality-standards" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">sued</a> the EPA multiple times in an effort to loosen air pollution standards. The nomination came from <b><a href="https://www.uschamber.com/dan-byers" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">Dan Byers</a> of the chamber’s Global Energy Institute, </b>who leads “efforts to <b>promote and maintain coal</b>’s vital role in America’s energy system.</span>”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Cox has made his living challenging established science on behalf of industry. He has worked as a consultant for more than a dozen companies or industry groups that lobby against clean air or worker safety rules and are major sources of pollution, according to his <a href="https://cox-associates.com/risk-analysis/" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">website</a>. <b>He consulted for the American Petroleum Institute, which represents oil and gas companies, and the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association, which represents makers of diesel and gasoline engines. He also consulted for the mining industry and tobacco giant Philip Morris.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Industries hire Cox to sow doubt about the scientific evidence, to make the case that agencies don’t have any proof,” said Celeste Monforton, a worker safety advocate who worked at the Department of Labor in the 1990s. “Already, there’s some reticence around regulation. If you can introduce more doubt, it can be very effective.”</font></p><div class="incontent-promo" id="incontent_promo_3" style="background: rgb(242, 243, 239); box-sizing: inherit; position: relative; left: -358.156px; height: auto; width: 100vw; margin-bottom: 1rem; clear: both;"><section id="mj-incontent-ad-widget-11" class="widget mj-incontent-ad-widget" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="incontent-ad-container" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 1300px; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px;" /></section></div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In an interview, Cox said there is no proof that cleaning air saves lives. He also has written that there’s no link between fine particle pollution and human health and that the health benefits from reducing ozone are “<a href="https://docs.house.gov/meetings/IF/IF03/20150616/103610/HHRG-114-IF03-Wstate-CoxL-20150616.pdf" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">exaggerated</a>.”</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Folks talk a good game and maybe fool themselves and others for a decade or so with feel-good projections and estimates, while all the time, the public gets zero actual measurable health benefits in terms of reduced death rates caused by the intervention,” Cox said.</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Numerous scientific studies around the world have reported the same results for two decades: Fine particles and ozone raise the risk of people dying from <a href="https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/full/10.1289/EHP3766" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">asthma</a>, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28735838" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">heart attacks</a>, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29283681" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">pneumonia</a> and other serious lung and heart ailments, and cleaning the air reduces deaths and hospitalizations.</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Cox is “clearly outside the mainstream,” said Chris Zarba, who led the EPA staff overseeing the science boards for six years until he retired in February. “He is not someone I would have picked. You want some diversity (on the board), you want some outsiders, but only up to a point.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Air pollution experts also have raised concerns about the expertise of the rest of the panel, with only one member with a medical or health background. None is an epidemiologist, the primary discipline that investigates human health effects of pollution. Five of the seven are engineers or toxicologists.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">George Thurston, who served on a subcommittee of the clean air board under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, is worried that the changes under Trump will skew the panel’s nonpartisan science advisory work.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Special interests get ahold of it and misrepresent the results,” said Thurston, who directs a program studying human health effects of air pollution at New York University’s School of Medicine. “And all the time, you’re delaying the public health benefits of regulation. That’s the goal.”</font></p><h3 class="subheader" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.3; margin: 2rem 0px 1rem;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">No medical or health training</font></span></h3><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Cox’s background as a statistician—with degrees in risk analysis, mathematical economics and operations research—makes him an unconventional fit compared with the doctors and scientists who traditionally have led the air pollution panel.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> His focus is risk analysis, a mathematical field designed to bring order to uncertain situations in which data is scarce or messy. He has no medical or health training.</span></font></p><div class="incontent-promo" id="incontent_promo_5" style="background: rgb(242, 243, 239); box-sizing: inherit; position: relative; left: -358.156px; height: auto; width: 100vw; margin-bottom: 1rem; clear: both;"><section id="mj-incontent-ad-widget-10" class="widget mj-incontent-ad-widget" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="incontent-ad-container" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 1300px; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px;" /></section></div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Cox is the editor-in-chief of </b><a href="http://www.sra.org/sra-journal" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url("><b>Risk Analysis: An International Journa</b>l</a> and was inducted into the <a href="https://www.nae.edu/cms/56125.aspx" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">National Academy of Engineering</a> for “applications of operations research and risk analysis to significant national problems.” He designed a toolkit for analyzing cause and effect that he described as a “totally dispassionate and honest mechanical” means of clearing away statistical noise.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Cox relies on a strategy that’s commonly applied by major corporations seeking to limit regulation: He plays on the uncertainty inherent in all scientific analyses.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Take particulate matter, tiny pieces of soot a fraction of the diameter of a human hair, which come from burning fuel in smokestacks and vehicles. The particles can lodge in the lungs and enter the bloodstream, inflaming lung diseases such as asthma and raising the risk of a heart attack.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Long-term studies of multiple cities by Harvard University, the University of Southern California and other schools have linked reduced particulate levels to <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa1414123" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">improved lung development</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5679287/" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">respiratory health</a> in children and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8179653" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">more deaths</a> from heart attacks and lung diseases on days when fine particles increase.</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But when Cox applies his statistical model to the same data, he reaches a different conclusion.</span> That’s because he is searching for factors other than pollution that may drive deaths. For instance, when he analyzed data on 100 cities, he reported “no evidence that reductions in PM2.5 concentrations cause reductions in mortality rates.” Instead, his <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23707535" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">analysis</a> concluded that it was temperature driving deaths. (Colder air can trap particles close to the ground, so the two factors often come together.) In other analyses, Cox pointed to income as a bigger factor than pollution.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Most of the evidence of health benefits “when looked at carefully turns out to consist of a mix of bad statistics, wishful thinking and irresponsible claims,” Cox said.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Epidemiologists say there’s a role for causal analysis like Cox’s. But they say it can’t replace the large studies that show what happens to people’s health when real-world pollutant levels rise and fall, combined with controlled experiments exposing people and animals</span>. Cause and effect is extremely difficult to prove in public health; instead, scientists search for repeated associations between sickness and pollution levels.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For instance, when a Utah steel mill that was releasing soot into the air shut down for 13 months, the number of children admitted to hospitals for asthma attacks and bronchitis dropped, according to one <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00039896.1991.9937434" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">study</a>. Once the mill reopened and the emissions returned, admissions nearly doubled.</font></p><div class="incontent-promo" id="incontent_promo_7" style="background: rgb(242, 243, 239); box-sizing: inherit; position: relative; left: -358.156px; height: auto; width: 100vw; margin-bottom: 1rem; clear: both;"><section id="mj-incontent-ad-widget-9" class="widget mj-incontent-ad-widget" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="incontent-ad-container" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 1300px; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px;" /></section></div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The researchers couldn’t declare without a doubt that closing the mill improved children’s health. But C. Arden Pope, a Brigham Young University professor and the study’s author, said the evidence leaves no other conclusion. He said no one has found a “magical confounder” that could explain why twice as many children are hospitalized with asthma attacks when the steel mill operates.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“A lot of what (Cox) says is manufactured uncertainty,” said Gretchen Goldman, research director of the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “If there’s a science-based rule, opponents will try to emphasize the uncertainty in the science to obscure its benefits.”</font></p><h3 class="subheader" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.3; margin: 2rem 0px 1rem;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Industry ties on science boards</font></span></h3><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The air pollution board isn’t the only one the Trump administration has overhauled. Cox’s appointment came after then-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt booted scientists from all advisory panels if they had received EPA research grants. That means most academics no longer qualify, while people with ties to polluting industries swamp the panels.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">An <a href="https://www.revealnews.org/article/epa-swaps-top-science-advisers-with-industry-allies/" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">investigation</a> by <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Reveal</em> from the Center for Investigative Reporting found that 16 of the Trump administration’s 18 replacements for the EPA’s larger, broader Science Advisory Board last year had industry ties.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The board’s new chairman, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality toxicology director Michael </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Honeycutt,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> has </span></b><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://energyindepth.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Shaw-Lange-and-Honeycutt-EM-2015-Ozone-Health-Benefits.pdf" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">cast doubt</a> on the effectiveness of EPA clean air rules. Another member, Robert Phalen, once said modern air is “<a href="https://www.aaas.org/blog/member-spotlight/robert-phalen-tests-our-modern-air" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">a little too clean for optimum health</a>.”</b></font></p><div class="incontent-promo" id="incontent_promo_8" style="background: rgb(242, 243, 239); box-sizing: inherit; position: relative; left: -358.156px; height: auto; width: 100vw; margin-bottom: 1rem; clear: both;"><section id="mj-incontent-ad-widget-8" class="widget mj-incontent-ad-widget" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="incontent-ad-container" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 1300px; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px;" /></section></div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Cox’s work for industry often has disputed science supporting regulations. In 2014, Cox spoke at a public hearing on behalf of the American Chemistry Council, which represents chemical companies, arguing against a proposed federal rule tightening limits on worker exposure to silica dust. He called the government’s assessment, which linked low levels to lung disease, “not ready for prime time.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">His testimony prompted a fiery retort from a nationally known scientist: Robert Park of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=OSHA-2010-0034-3576" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">told the hearing audience</a> that it was “ludicrous” for Cox to question “100 years of research” showing silica’s health effects.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We aren’t stupid,” Park told him.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For diesel engine manufacturers, Cox criticized science that links diesel exhaust to lung cancer. Diesels are a major source of the fine particles that his panel will review.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>A 2012 <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3375489/" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">study</a> by Cox, partially funded by Philip Morris, found that smoking 10 or fewer cigarettes per day didn’t raise the risk of heart disease. </b>According to his website, he also consulted for the tobacco company multiple times between 2004 and 2009, including questioning whether smoking causes lung cancer and other lung diseases.</font></p><div class="incontent-promo" id="incontent_promo_9" style="background: rgb(242, 243, 239); box-sizing: inherit; position: relative; left: -358.156px; height: auto; width: 100vw; margin-bottom: 1rem; clear: both;"><section id="mj-incontent-ad-widget-7" class="widget mj-incontent-ad-widget" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="incontent-ad-container" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 1300px; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px;" /></section></div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The National Mining Association retained him in 2011 to <a href="https://arlweb.msha.gov/regs/comments/2010-25249/AB64-COMM-74-12.pdf" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">testify</a> against a rule that would limit miners’ exposure to coal dust to combat <b>black lung</b> disease. In addition, the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association funded a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.3109/10408444.2013.777689" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">2013 paper</a> he wrote questioning the links between cancers and proximity to California rock mines.</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Industry representatives often have served on EPA panels. George Wolff, a scientist for General Motors, led the clean air panel for three years in the 1990s. But under previous administrations, they were in the minority, outweighed by voices from academia.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler earlier this month <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/energy-environment/2018/10/14/epa-scraps-pair-air-pollution-science-panels/?utm_term=.3db2c4ad2f44" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">disbanded</a> a large subcommittee of scientists that reviewed health effects of particulates and scrapped plans to create one for ozone</b>. That means the EPA will rely on the seven panelists rather than two dozen or more specialized experts when it decides whether to loosen or tighten air standards.</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“You can’t say you are serious about the views of the scientific community and then limit the expertise at the table,” said John Bachmann, a former EPA director for science policy on air quality under the George W. Bush administration. “It is a travesty.”</font></p><div class="incontent-promo" id="incontent_promo_10" style="background: rgb(242, 243, 239); box-sizing: inherit; position: relative; left: -358.156px; height: auto; width: 100vw; margin-bottom: 1rem; clear: both;"><section id="mj-incontent-ad-widget-6" class="widget mj-incontent-ad-widget" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="incontent-ad-container" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 1300px; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px;" /></section></div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One new air pollution board member is <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Timothy_Lewis4" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">Timothy Lewis</a>, an aquatic ecology engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers whose work focuses on controlling invasive species in waterways. He has no apparent expertise in human effects of air pollution.</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Another new member is Sabine Lange, a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality toxicologist who has publicly questioned the <a href="https://www.energyindepth.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Shaw-Lange-and-Honeycutt-EM-2015-Ozone-Health-Benefits.pdf" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">impact of ozone pollution</a> on health and collaborated with Honeycutt on a<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30049975" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url("> study</a> criticizing the EPA’s benefits analysis for the standard.</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Joining them is Steven Packham, a Utah Division of Air Quality toxicologist. Even though Salt Lake City has some of the nation’s <a href="https://www.lung.org/our-initiatives/healthy-air/sota/city-rankings/most-polluted-cities.html" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">worst particulate pollution</a>, Packham <a href="https://www.hjnews.com/allaccess/air-quality-impacts-health-professor-says/article_406e0713-fb38-554c-a2f5-4efaf3c86092.html" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">said in 2016</a>, “We don’t have enough data to say PM2.5 is causing the health effects that we’re attributing to it.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The sole medical voice on the panel is <a href="https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/people/20996116-mark-w-frampton" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">Dr. Mark Frampton</a>, a pulmonologist with the University of Rochester Medical Center who has studied the health effects of air pollutants, including leading the <a href="https://www.healtheffects.org/publication/multicenter-ozone-study-older-subjects-moses-part-1-effects-exposure-low-concentrations" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">largest systematic study</a> exposing patients to ozone. In a 2011 <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3172884/" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">editorial</a> in a medical journal, Frampton said that as health effects emerge at lower levels of ozone, the economic costs could become untenable, so “we need to consider new regulatory approaches in achieving the cleanest air possible and minimizing harm.”</font></span></p><div class="incontent-promo" id="incontent_promo_11" style="background: rgb(242, 243, 239); box-sizing: inherit; position: relative; left: -358.156px; height: auto; width: 100vw; margin-bottom: 1rem; clear: both;"><section id="mj-incontent-ad-widget-5" class="widget mj-incontent-ad-widget" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="incontent-ad-container" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 1300px; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px;" /></section></div><h3 class="subheader" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.3; margin: 2rem 0px 1rem;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Stakes are high in many cities</font></span></h3><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">There’s a lot at stake for the public: More than <a href="https://www3.epa.gov/airquality/greenbook/jnsum.html" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">124 million people</a> in 201 US counties live in places where the air is considered unhealthy for ozone, and <a href="https://www3.epa.gov/airquality/greenbook/knsum.html" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">more than 23 million</a> people breathe air with unhealthful levels of fine particles. Included are the Los Angeles region, Houston, New York, Phoenix, Pittsburgh and Sacramento, California. The elderly, children and people with cardiovascular or lung diseases are most at risk.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The clean air panel is the scientific filter for EPA policymakers who set the health standards. First, the panelists review a massive collection of studies assembled by EPA staff to say where the science is strongest and where uncertainty exists. That’s followed by an assessment of what the potential health effects are at various pollution levels.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Finally, the panel produces a recommendation for a safe air quality level. The federal Clean Air Act mandates that the standards be bounded strictly by science, not costs. The EPA does not have to adopt the recommendation, but a definitive scientific review from the panel is hard for the agency to ignore.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Cox is someone who can go out and put in all kinds of weasel words,” said Bachmann, the former EPA official. “He can weaken all the evidence we have.”</font></p><div class="incontent-promo" id="incontent_promo_12" style="background: rgb(242, 243, 239); box-sizing: inherit; position: relative; left: -358.156px; height: auto; width: 100vw; margin-bottom: 1rem; clear: both;"><section id="mj-incontent-ad-widget-3" class="widget mj-incontent-ad-widget" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="incontent-ad-container" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 1300px; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px;" /></section></div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Cox said he isn’t trying to stop the EPA from reducing pollution, but wants to offer “a more accurate and nuanced understanding of what we can control.” He said he hopes he can “help clarify and communicate clearly and precisely about what is known and what remains uncertain.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But the new makeup of the science panel comes with other changes to the EPA’s review process for clean air standards. Pruitt in May <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-05/documents/image2018-05-09-173219.pdf" wp-content="wp-content" themes="themes" motherjones="motherjones" css="css" img="img" orange-border.png="orange-border.png" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x" text-shadow="text-shadow" rgb="rgb" px="px" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; background-position: 0px 90%; background-image: url(">outlined</a> a streamlined review—removing some opportunities to challenge faulty assumptions—and asked the science panel for the first time to advise the EPA on adverse “social, economic or energy effects” of attaining standards.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Zarba, the former EPA official, worries that those changes could give air pollution skeptics such as Cox more power to bake in their conclusions from the start.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“If you cherry-pick the science a certain way,” Zarba said, “you can get whatever answer you want.”</font></p></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div style=""><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></div></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/hurricane-harvey-trump-epa-response-2630918498.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.ecowatch.com/hurricane-harvey-trump-epa-response-2630918498.html</a></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style=""><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Andrea Germanos</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">President Donald <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); font-weight: bold; outline: none; line-height: 1.5;">Trump</a>'s U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/epa" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); font-weight: bold; outline: none; line-height: 1.5;">EPA</a>) and Texas state officials rejected an offer from NASA scientists in 2017 to use their state-of-the-art flying laboratory to evaluate air quality in Houston after Hurricane Harvey, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-nasa-jet-epa-hurricane-harvey-20190305-story.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); font-weight: bold; outline: none; line-height: 1.5;">new reporting by the Los Angeles Times reveals</a>.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"This is disturbing," <a href="https://twitter.com/JudgeHidalgo/status/1103127288856698880" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); font-weight: bold; outline: none; line-height: 1.5;">said</a> Lina Hidalgo, judge for Texas's Harris County.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Harvey brought <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/29/class-its-own-no-storm-us-history-has-unleashed-more-rain-hurricane-harvey" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); font-weight: bold; outline: none; line-height: 1.5;">historic rainfall,</a> <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/28/drones-offer-devastating-footage-damage-harvey-has-wrought" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); font-weight: bold; outline: none; line-height: 1.5;">catastrophic flooding</a> and <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/22/full-impact-still-hidden-public-report-details-environmental-assault-unleashed" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); font-weight: bold; outline: none; line-height: 1.5;">triggered</a> potentially dangerous environmental and public health impacts: Houston's many refineries and petrochemical released pollutants into the air and waters, and area residents began to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/09/12/after-harvey-texas-left-toxic-soup-sewage-spilled-fuel-pesticides-and-more" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); font-weight: bold; outline: none; line-height: 1.5;">complain</a> of <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/06/%20/news/2017/08/29/harvey-triggers-unbearable-pollution-refineries-spew-cancer-causing-chemicals" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); font-weight: bold; outline: none; line-height: 1.5;">worrisome</a> smells and toxic sights near the facilities, as well as symptoms including headaches. The EPA asserted that the air quality posed no threat.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NASA, it turned out, was in a good position to gather data on air quality in the area with <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/aircraft/DC-8/overview.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); font-weight: bold; outline: none; line-height: 1.5;">its DC-8</a>. The jet, whose ability to ability to gather data dwarfs that of the EPA's <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/air-pollution" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); font-weight: bold; outline: none; line-height: 1.5;">air pollution</a> plane or the hand-held devices used by Texas state officials, was already set up for testing because of a scheduled six-hour test flight to Lamont, Oklahoma on Sept. 14.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The response to NASA's offer? Thanks but no thanks.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Susanne Rust and Louis Sahagun reported for the Times:</font></p><blockquote style="margin: 1em 0px 1em 25px; border-left: 5px solid rgb(82, 149, 70); padding: 0px 0px 0px 25px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On Sept. 9, David Gray, the EPA's deputy regional administrator in Texas and leader of the agency's emergency response, wrote to NASA and Texas officials that he was "hesitant" to have the jet "collect additional information that overlaps our existing efforts" until he learned more about the mission. He noted that media and nongovernmental organizations were releasing data that was "conflicting" with the state and EPA's.</font></blockquote><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The NASA scientists offered assurances that their fact-finding would not get in the way, but noted that the data would eventually be seen by the public. Texas and the EPA were unmoved.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The state-level response came from <b>director of toxicology Michael Honeycutt, who now heads EPA's Science Advisory Board and is known for <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/elliott-negin/pruitt-scientists-key-advisory-panel" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); outline: none; line-height: 1.5;">expressing</a> views well out of the reach of mainstream <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/science/" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); outline: none; line-height: 1.5;">science</a>, such as the idea that lowering ozone would be bad for public health.</b></font></p><blockquote style="margin: 1em 0px 1em 25px; border-left: 5px solid rgb(82, 149, 70); padding: 0px 0px 0px 25px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On Sept. 11, Honeycutt wrote in an email to NASA and EPA officials that state data showed no sign for concern, and "we don't think your data would be useful for source identification while industry continues to restart their operations."
Gray agreed with Honeycutt: "EPA concurs with your assessment and we will not plan to ask NASA to conduct this mission."</font></blockquote><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Associated Press reporter Frank Bajak <a href="https://twitter.com/fbajak/status/1102955314645790720" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); font-weight: bold; outline: none; line-height: 1.5;">noted</a> that the new investigation adds weight to his own news agency's previous reporting showing that "Texas environmental regulators had little interest in exposing most post-Harvey industrial contamination."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Reacting to the reporting on Twitter, Dr. Chelsea Thompson, a research scientist in atmospheric chemistry, wrote, "It's worth noting that, over a year later now, all of us involved are still stunned by how this played out."</font></p></div></div><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"EPA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality knew air pollution was one of the unseen dangers of Hurricane Harvey, but according to news reports they deliberately chose not to use every available tool to discover it," added Elena Craft, senior health scientist with Environmental Defense Fund. "Their rejection of NASA's plan to fly a pollution-spotting plane over Houston after the storm is an abdication of responsibility and part of a disturbing trend of willful ignorance."
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Their action," she continued, "caused unnecessary risk to the health and safety of Texas families."</font></p></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">ref</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-nasa-jet-epa-hurricane-harvey-20190305-story.html">https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-nasa-jet-epa-hurricane-harvey-20190305-story.html</a></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">the weeks after Hurricane Harvey’s catastrophic sweep through the Houston area — which resulted in chemical spills, fires, flooded storage tanks and damaged industrial plants — rescue crews and residents complained of burning throats, nausea and dizziness.</span></font></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fifteen hundred miles west in the high desert city of Palmdale, NASA scientists were preparing to fly a DC-8, equipped with the world’s most sophisticated air samplers over the hurricane zone to monitor pollution levels.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The mission never got off the ground. Both the state of Texas and the EPA told the scientists to stay away.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to emails obtained by The Times via a public records request and interviews with dozens of scientists and officials familiar with the situation, EPA and state officials argued that NASA’s data would cause “confusion” and might “overlap” with their own analysis — which was showing only a few, isolated spots of concern.</font></span></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“At this time, we don’t think your data would be useful,” Michael Honeycutt, Texas’ director of toxicology, wrote to NASA officials, adding that low-flying helicopters equipped with infra-red cameras, contracted by his agency, would be sufficient.</font></span></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">EPA deferred to Honeycutt, a controversial toxicologist <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/02/14/583972957/top-epa-science-adviser-has-history-of-questioning-pollution-research" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; line-height: 18px;">who has suggested air pollution may be bene</a></span><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/02/14/583972957/top-epa-science-adviser-has-history-of-questioning-pollution-research" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; line-height: 18px;">ficial to human health</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span></font></b></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The response stunned NASA scientists, many of whom had flown similar missions in the past, including over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">An EPA spokesman said the decision to wave off the Hurricane Harvey mission was made by Texas state officials, whose own pollution monitoring efforts included mobile bus units and crews with hand-held devices on the ground.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But NASA scientists say that, had the DC-8 been deployed, it would have provided the most comprehensive and detailed analysis of air quality in the region, allowing for a more thorough understanding of the situation.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“It’s totally possible we’d have found nothing at all to be concerned about,” said Tom Ryerson, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration researcher who had previously been part of the Deepwater Horizon mission. “But at least we’d have known that,” he said, “without a doubt.”</font></span></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Some see the EPA decision as part of a pattern.</font></b></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Since taking office, the Trump administration has rejected and <a href="https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2018/08/15/trump-administrations-continued-attack-science/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; cursor: pointer; line-height: 18px;">suppressed established science</a>, partnered<a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-secret-science-20190219-story.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; cursor: pointer; line-height: 18px;"> with fringe researchers</a> and embraced industry-backed views — including appointing a former coal lobbyist as its new EPA administrator.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At the time of the hurricane, the agency was run by Scott Pruitt, who during his tenure <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/05/climate/trump-environment-rules-reversed.html?r=0" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; cursor: pointer; line-height: 18px;">targeted dozens of environmental regulations</a> for rollback, including several focused on air pollution.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“This is a very clear illustration of the politics of knowledge,” said Scott Frickel, an environmental sociologist at Brown University, referring to the rejection of the NASA jet. “The EPA Region 6 and Texas authorities don’t want to know, so they are passing on something really important about urban-scale disasters.”</font></p></div></div><div data-type="image" class="card card-pull-center card-captioned collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px; border-top-width: 24px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><figure class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><figcaption class="caption-text spaced spaced-top spaced-sm flex-container-row justify-space-between " style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; line-height: 16px; flex-direction: row; justify-content: space-between; margin-top: 8px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Hurricane Harvey's storm clouds in Houston on Aug. 29, 2017. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)</font></div></figcaption></figure></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Clouds of benzene over Houston</font></span></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On Aug. 25, 2017, Harvey stalled over the Texas coast, unleashing record rainfall on Houston and Galveston.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The area is one of the most heavily concentrated industrialized hubs in the nation, home to thousands of petroleum refineries and chemical manufacturing plants and more than a dozen Superfund sites. Over the next eight days, the storm dumped more than 60 inches of rain on some areas of the region, pummeling it with wind gusts in excess of 150 mph, according to the U.S. Geological Survey and EPA.</font></span></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On Aug. 28, Gov. Greg Abbott suspended state emission rules, including those governing air pollution, after the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality argued they would impede disaster response. The rules remained suspended for the next seven months.</font></b></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When the storm finally moved north and east on Sept. 4, the level of environmental destruction and confusion on the ground was unprecedented.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Smokestacks, pipelines and generators had been <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/08/harvey-flooding-explosion-petrochemicals/538560/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; cursor: pointer; line-height: 18px;">damaged or destroyed</a>. Storage tanks filled with toxic chemicals were battered and leaking. <a href="https://apnews.com/27796dd13b9549b0ac76aded58a15122" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; cursor: pointer; line-height: 18px;">Superfund sites were flooded, spilling hazardous waste into nearby rivers</a>, streams and neighborhoods.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Officials from the EPA and the state environmental agency, which had shut down their stationary air monitors to avoid storm damage, maintained the air quality was fine. In addition to using ground technology, they flew in a single-engine prop plane that took photos and used infrared technology to detect chemical plumes in the area.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Despite EPA claims that pollutants were “<a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epatceq-harvey-update-air-quality-improving-more-water-systems-operational" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; cursor: pointer; line-height: 18px;">well below levels of health concern</a>,” residents and rescuers complained of the fumes. Clouds of benzene and other cancer-causing chemicals floated over the city, according to analyses by <a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:wi1NZNrmHrAJ:airalliancehouston.org/news/2018-harvey-letter-from-the-director/+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; cursor: pointer; line-height: 18px;">environmental groups</a> and <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/valero-houston-plant-underestimated-harvey-benzene-leak-1505432176" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; cursor: pointer; line-height: 18px;">news reports</a>.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As those reports spread, researchers with NASA’s Atmospheric Tomography Mission program thought they could help.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Since 2016, the chemistry laboratory has flown more that 197,000 miles around the globe, sampling hundreds of unique airborne gases or particles.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The team was about to embark on its fourth and final mission around the globe and had planned a six-hour test flight for Sept. 14 that would take them east to Lamont, Okla., where they’d carry out compass measurements, before heading back to Palmdale.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="image" class="card card-pull-center card-captioned collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px; border-top-width: 24px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><figure class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><figcaption class="caption-text spaced spaced-top spaced-sm flex-container-row justify-space-between " style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; line-height: 16px; flex-direction: row; justify-content: space-between; margin-top: 8px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Chris Jennison, a DC-8 mission manager, aboard the NASA-operated plane in Palmdale. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)</font></div></figcaption></figure></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p data-page="2" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The laboratory inside the DC-8, when running at full capacity, hosts roughly three dozen scientists and engineers and a crew of eight. Tubes, spigots and flasks on the aircraft’s exterior <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/blog/2730/cloudy-with-a-chance-of-chemistry/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; cursor: pointer; line-height: 18px;">guzzle in air samples</a> as the jet bobs up and down between its lowest altitude of 500 feet and its ceiling at 40,000 feet.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“When fully equipped … it bristles like a porcupine with probes, tubes and laser equipment sticking out of the hull and windows and dangling off the wings — all of them plugged into instruments on board,” said Chris Jennison, the DC-8 mission manager, during a recent tour of the plane.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It is the most precise and comprehensive airborne air quality lab on the planet, according to scientists familiar with the equipment. Where the EPA’s air pollution single-prop plane can gather some basic chemistry of about two dozen species of air-pollutant compounds, the <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/blog/2730/cloudy-with-a-chance-of-chemistry/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; cursor: pointer; line-height: 18px;">NASA jet can analyze more than 450</a>.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As the team watched the disaster unfold, Paul Newman, chief scientist of NASA’s Earth Science Division, suggested they divert their test run and fly over Houston. The timing was serendipitous. The DC-8 was fully equipped and ready to go.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We agreed this would be a good opportunity to support the Hurricane Harvey recovery effort,” Lawrence Friedl, NASA’s director of Applied Sciences wrote in a Sept. 8, 2017 email to the agency’s then-acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot and others. Indeed, <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6938" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; cursor: pointer; line-height: 18px;">NASA’s press shop was touting its coordination </a>with the hurricane emergency response.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But over the next few days, it became clear neither the EPA nor the state of Texas saw this particular offer in that same light.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="image" class="card card-pull-center card-captioned collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px; border-top-width: 24px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><figure class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><figcaption class="caption-text spaced spaced-top spaced-sm flex-container-row justify-space-between " style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; line-height: 16px; flex-direction: row; justify-content: space-between; margin-top: 8px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The NASA-operated DC-8 in its Palmdale hangar between missions. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)</font></div></figcaption></figure></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Emails detail how EPA officials fretted about ‘overlaps’</font></span></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On Sept. 9, David Gray, the EPA’s deputy regional administrator in Texas and leader of the agency’s emergency response, wrote to NASA and Texas officials that he was “hesitant” to have the jet “collect additional information that overlaps our existing efforts” until he learned more about the mission. He noted that media and nongovernmental organizations were releasing data that was “conflicting” with the state and EPA’</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">s.</span></font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NASA scientists tried to reassure Gray and Honeycutt that they wouldn’t do anything to hinder the data collection efforts. They said they wouldn’t focus on particular facility emissions but instead assess whether large changes in air quality had occurred following the disaster. They also promised not to deliver their data to the media, although they underscored it would eventually be made public.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In addition, they noted, similar interagency missions had succeeded in the past. In 2010, a NOAA plane with a similar payload aided the EPA in assessing air quality over the Deepwater Horizon spill. The data showed Gulf air was OK to breathe, assuaging the concerns of rescue operators and emergency responders.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Jane Lubchenco, the former NOAA administrator who oversaw the Deepwater Horizon mission, said the cooperation and tone of discussion then “was set at the highest level: The president made it clear he wanted teamwork throughout.”</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“There is no good reason why that cannot happen most of the time,” she said.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But the NASA scientists’ assurances didn’t work.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The key decision-maker was Honeycutt, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/02/14/583972957/top-epa-science-adviser-has-history-of-questioning-pollution-research" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; cursor: pointer; line-height: 18px;">known for his energy industry-friendly views</a> on toxic chemicals and pollutants. Six weeks later, Trump’s EPA would appoint Honeycutt chairman of the agency’s Science Advisory Board, an independent panel of scientists charged with providing advice to the agency’s administrator.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On Sept. 11, Honeycutt wrote in an email to NASA and EPA officials that state data showed no sign for concern, and “we don’t think your data would be useful for source identification while industry continues to restart their operations.”</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Gray agreed with Honeycutt: “EPA concurs with your assessment and we will not plan to ask NASA to conduct this mission.”</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The NASA team was stupefied.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“NASA does NOT need EPA approval,” Newman wrote to the team’s project coordinator, Barry Lefer. “We certainly should notify and potentially coordinate, but we don’t need approval.”</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">His superiors disagreed, and that evening Michael Freilich, the director of NASA’s Earth Sciences division, called off the flight. Freilich retired on Feb. 28.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The agency had “received emails from both TCEQ and EPA stating unambiguously that they do not want NASA to use the DC-8 for any data acquisition,” he wrote. “I am personally sorry.”</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In recent interviews, EPA and Texas officials maintained the NASA flight would not have provided useful information.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“NASA is equipped to gather atmospheric chemistry data, not ground-level data, which is why we declined their offer,” Honeycutt wrote in an email.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I did not tell NASA they could not fly their DC-8,” he said. “I don’t have that kind of authority; I’m just a state employee.”</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">John Konkus, an EPA spokesman, said the EPA didn’t deny the offer, either.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“This is EPA facilitating the decision-maker, which in this case was the state,” he said. EPA, he said, was “satisfied with the air monitoring technology that EPA had and [that the state] requested we deploy.”</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">An investigation from the <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/In-Houston-and-beyond-Harvey-s-spills-leave-a-12771237.php" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; cursor: pointer; line-height: 18px;">Associated Press and the Houston Chronicle</a> showed there was widespread, unreported pollution and environmental damage in the region. The team identified more than 100 Harvey-related toxic releases, most of which were never publicized or vastly understated, including a cloud of hydrochloric acid that leaked from a damaged pipeline and a gasoline spill from an oil terminal that formed “a vapor cloud.”</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Even if the DC-8 flight had not detected that pollution, it is unsettling that NASA was prevented from even looking, Newman said.</font></p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="card collection-item card-border-bottom card-border-bottom-thick card-border-bottom-dark" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-width: 4px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 19px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><div class=" card-content " style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; padding: 24px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Science is about numbers,” he said. “And if you’re unwilling to look, you’re not doing science.”</font></p></div></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font><div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump administration rolled out a new policy Tuesday that states scientists receiving Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grants cannot serve on the agency's advisory boards, a move critics decried as part of a war on independent science.</font></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The policy, rolled out at an EPA event by Administrator <span class="rollover-people" data-behavior="rolloverpeople" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><a class="rollover-people-link" data-nid="349604" href="https://thehill.com/people/edward-scott-pruitt" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline-block; position: relative;">Scott Pruitt</a></span>, bars hundreds of expert scientists working in environmental and health fields at universities from serving on the boards. Conversely, it would almost certainly increase the representation from companies and industry groups on the panels.</font></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2017-10/documents/final_draft_fac_directive-10.31.2017.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; position: relative; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(42, 83, 193);">policy change was</a> quickly denounced by Democrats and environmental groups, who called it a poorly disguised attempt to push out experts at odds with industry.</font></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />But Republicans, who have long been seeking the same goals through other means, applauded the policy.</font></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Pruitt presented the move as a way to reduce conflicts of interest. EPA grantees, he said, inevitably are conflicted because of the money they receive from the agency.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Those advisory committees have given us the bedrock of science to ensure that we’re making informed decisions,” Pruitt said at the event.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“And when we have members of those committees that have received tens of millions of dollars in grants at the same time that they’re advising this agency on rulemaking, that is not good and that’s not right,” he said.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">EPA advisory committee members have gotten $77 million in EPA grants over the last three years, Pruitt said.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"We want to ensure that there’s integrity in the process, and that the scientists who are advising us are doing so with not any type of appearance of conflict," he said. "And when you receive that much money … there’s a question that arises about independence."</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Pruitt cited a Bible verse from the book of Joshua, in which Joshua led the people of Israel to the promised land but asked them to choose between worshipping God or their "false gods."</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Choose this day whom you will serve," Pruitt said, quoting Joshua.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"This is sort of like the Joshua principle," he said. "Either service on the committee to provide counsel to us in an independent fashion or choose the grant. But you can’t do both."</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Pruitt had <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/355866-epa-to-restrict-scientific-advisers-who-get-agency-grants" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline; position: relative; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(42, 83, 193);">teased</a> the grantee policy earlier this month at a Heritage Foundation event.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The directive issued Tuesday also seeks more state, local and tribal government representation on the advisory boards, more geographic diversity and new candidates with “fresh perspectives” on the matters before the committees.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">State, local and tribal government representatives also get an exemption to Pruitt’s ban on grantees.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The committees at issue include the Science Advisory Board and the Clean Air Safety Advisory Committee.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Those panels do not have the power to issue regulations on their own. But they are often called upon by the administrator and others at the EPA for their expertise on regulatory and other matters.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Pruitt did not announce the membership of the boards at Tuesday’s event with lawmakers and activists, saying instead that announcement would come in the next week.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Pruitt did, however, name the chairmen of each of the three most high-profile panels: Michael Honeycutt, head toxicologist at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, will chair the Science Advisory Board; Tony Cox, an independent consultant, will lead the Clean Air Safety Advisory Committee; and Paul Gilman, chief sustainability officer at waste-to-energy company Covanta Energy, will head the Board of Scientific Advisers.</font></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Each man has extensive experience and education in their fields; each has also disagreed with the scientific basis of major Obama administration policies.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The American Association for the Advancement of Science, one of the nation’s foremost scientific societies, slammed the policy rolled out Tuesday.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rush Holt, the group’s CEO, said it “denounces the EPA administrator’s decision to disallow qualified scientific experts from providing evidence-based information as members of its science adviser boards.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“This EPA decision is motivated by politics, not the desire for quality scientific information,” he said.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Democrats and environmentalists joined in.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Scott Pruitt’s latest move to reject qualified scientists to make room for industry-sponsored individuals isn’t fooling anyone,” said Sen. <span class="rollover-people" data-behavior="rolloverpeople" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><a class="rollover-people-link" data-nid="188214" href="https://thehill.com/people/tom-carper" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline-block; position: relative;">Tom Carper</a></span>(Del.), the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Since he arrived at the agency, Mr. Pruitt has repeatedly worked to silence EPA scientists, deny the facts and discredit science inconvenient to his agenda; now he’s trying to get rid of the scientists altogether,” Carper said.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But Republicans, who are actively pushing legislation that would enforce similar standards, applauded the move.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It answers their years-long complaints that the Obama administration was creating an echo chamber and shutting out dissenting voices from panels.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“For too long, the agency’s advisory committees were not representative of the whole country,” said Sen. <span class="rollover-people" data-behavior="rolloverpeople" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><a class="rollover-people-link" data-nid="188202" href="https://thehill.com/people/john-barrasso" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline-block; position: relative;">John Barrasso</a></span> (R-Wyo.), the environment committee’s chairman.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Today’s directive from Administrator Pruitt will ensure that the unique perspectives of Wyoming and other rural states are not left out of the conversation,” he said.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Myron Ebell, head of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s energy and environment center, said his group “strongly supports EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s sensible and long overdue reforms of the agency’s numerous advisory boards.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ebell also led President Trump’s transition team operation at the EPA.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " graphik="Graphik" web="Web" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The fact that some of the EPA’s advisory boards are filled with members whose research receives millions of dollars of funding from the EPA is an obvious conflict of interest that should never have been allowed to develop," he said.</font></p></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">reveal</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Former board chairwoman Deborah Swackhamer said Pruitt’s upending of the board signals the EPA’s shift away from using scientific evidence to guide policy.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“There has always been a very strong culture of trying to make sure this committee remains objective in its role,” said Swackhamer, professor emerita at the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health and Humphrey School of Public Affairs.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>She voiced particular concern about the appointment of Michael Honeycutt </b>as the newest chairman. Honeycutt, director of the toxicology division of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality,<a href="http://energyindepth.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Shaw-Lange-and-Honeycutt-EM-2015-Ozone-Health-Benefits.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background: transparent; line-height: inherit;"> rejected evidence</a> that the EPA’s proposal to tighten the ozone standard will yield health benefits.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“The chair of the (Science Advisory Board) has historically been a researcher from academia, as they typically pose the least chance of conflict of interest,” said Swackhamer, who still serves on a separate EPA advisory board. “This appointment doesn’t follow that pattern.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>She called Honeycutt “a bureaucrat without a strong science background, who openly rejects most of the science used in standard-setting.”</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Honeycutt declined to comment.</font></p></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">omfg</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://kpfa.org/episode/scott-pruitt-pushing-scientists-epa/">https://kpfa.org/episode/scott-pruitt-pushing-scientists-epa/</a></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Scott Pruitt the head of the Environmental Protection Agency just issued a bizarre set of new rules barring federally funded scientists from serving on advisory boards saying they could not be objective. On today’s show we’ll speak with Genna Reed from the Union of Concerned Scientists about the rule and how Pruitt seems to have turned the idea of “conflict of interest” on its head in order to serve business interests. Then, we’ll examine how another Trump appointee is destroying his agency – Ryan Zinke’s recent decision to raise national park fees and shrink the size of national monuments. My guest Ben Schreider of Friends of the Earth will explain more. Finally Harper Jean Tobin of the National Center for Transgender Equality will join us to comment on a recent federal judge’s decision to block Donald Trump’s ban on transgender troops in the military.</font></span></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/honeycutt-epa-science-2510052297.html">https://www.ecowatch.com/honeycutt-epa-science-2510052297.html</a></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><div class="headline-container" style="margin-top: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h1 class="headline h1" style="margin: 10px; padding: 0px; position: relative; line-height: 31px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Why Honeycutt Is Such an Alarming Choice for EPA's Science Advisory Panel</font></h1></div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="js-scroll-trigger" data-target="body" data-triggers="render-rebelbar" data-toggle-class="with-floating-shares" data-loaded="true" style="margin-top: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></span></font><div id="utm_campaign" style="margin-top: 10px;"><div class="body js-expandable clearfix js-listicle-body js-update-url" data-elid="2510052297" data-authors="Environmental Defense Fund" data-headline="Why Honeycutt Is Such an Alarming Choice for EPA's Science Advisory Panel" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px; line-height: 24px;"><div class="body-description"><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By Elena Craft</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Michael Honeycutt—the man set to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/epa" style="text-decoration-line: none;">EPA</a>'s) prestigious Science Advisory Board—has spent most of his career as a credentialed counterpoint against almost anything the EPA has proposed to protect human health.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fortunately, his lone voice for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality rarely carried beyond the Lone Star State. Until now.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The EPA science advisory panel Honeycutt will chair is supposed to provide the agency with independent scientific expertise on a wide range of issues. In a highly unusual move, EPA Administrator <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scott-pruitt" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Scott Pruitt</a> picked the Texan for the job even though he has never been a member of the board.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">More than Honeycutt's inexperience, however, what worries me most is his faulty logic and what this means for <a href="https://www.edf.org/blog/2017/11/03/epas-science-under-attack-what-you-need-know" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">science at the EPA</a>.</font></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Honeycutt downplays ozone dangers</font></strong></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A toxicologist by training, Honeycutt has criticized the EPA's <a href="https://www.edf.org/health/why-smog-standards-are-important-our-health" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">health-based standards for ozone</a> because "most people spend more than 90 percent of their time indoors," reducing their exposure to the ubiquitous pollutant.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Houston residents know differently. The city's worst day for lung-damaging ozone this year happened while many people were outside for long hours of cleanup after <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricane-harvey" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Hurricane Harvey</a>.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Honeycutt doubled-down on his position that ozone is not harmful to human health in a 2014 interview with the Texas Tribune.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"I haven't seen the data that says lowering ozone will produce a health benefit," he said. "In fact, I've seen data that shows it might have a negative health benefit."
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Honeycutt's statement suggests he believes that more <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/air-pollution" style="text-decoration-line: none;">air pollution</a> might actually be good for you.</font></p><p><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">… even though ozone can cause premature death</font></strong></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I am a toxicologist in Texas, too, and here is the truth about ozone: The pollutant can <a href="http://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2017/10/23/epa-refuses-to-act-on-smog-pollution-heres-whats-at-stake/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">exacerbate asthma, lung disease and heart disease</a>—and even lead to premature death.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The current acceptable limit, recommended during the George W. Bush administration and set under Obama's in 2015, is 70 parts per billion, a standard that the public health community still believes is too high. The EPA's own science advisors had recommended a limit as stringent as 60 ppb to protect human health.</font></p><p><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Honeycutt spent millions to refute science</font></strong></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In his Texas role, Honeycutt responded to the recommendation by paying more than $2.6 million for research that says tighter ozone rules would cost the state billions of dollars annually with little or no impact on public health.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Every part per billion that they don't lower it is millions of dollars," Honeycutt told the Houston Chronicle. "So we think that the return on investment in this is just phenomenal. Just phenomenal."</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And it's not just ozone that seems to be a target for Honeycutt. He also has issues with protections against <a href="https://www.edf.org/climate/mercury-and-air-toxics-rule-power-plants" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">mercury, particulate matter and air toxics</a>.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The reality is, however, that by failing to improve air quality, we're paying more in health and social costs. This is real money lost on hospital visits, and on missed work and school days.</font></p><p><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">… and now he'll steer EPA science</font></strong></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">All this matters because Honeycutt, as the board's chair, will help prioritize which issues the EPA decides to investigate. He will also pick the scientists who review studies and reports before they come to the full board.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">My worry is that he will continue down a path that is destructive to public health protections, <a href="https://www.edf.org/pruitts-playbook-target-epa-and-hire-polluters" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">a well-known pattern</a> within the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Trump</a> administration.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">We know that clean air and a strong economy go hand-in-hand—and that claims by industry doomsayers claims are unsubstantiated.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But none of that matters to an administration that scrubs qualified scientists from serving on advisory committees, that eradicates scientific data from websites that do not support the its agenda, and that does not want to be challenged.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Honeycutt's appointment is yet another attack against science. With American health at stake, we cannot stay silent about this latest EPA development.</font></p><p><em><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Elena Craft is a senior health scientist at <a href="https://www.edf.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Environmental Defense Fund</a>.</font></em></p></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Soot Makes You Live Longer</font></strong></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">One of the 10, toxicologist <a data-beacon="//www.publicintegrity.org/2014/12/18/16532/texas-weakens-chemical-exposure-guidelines-opens-door-polluters" data-beacon-parsed="true" href="https://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/12/18/16532/texas-weakens-chemical-exposure-guidelines-opens-door-polluters" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Michael Honeycutt</a>, failed to secure a seat on the EPA’s seven-member Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee when he was nominated for one last fall — with good reason</span>. Over the last decade, Honeycutt, who heads the toxicology division of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, rolled back the state’s relatively weak protections for <a data-beacon="//www.tceq.texas.gov/toxicology/dsd/final.html" data-beacon-parsed="true" href="https://www.tceq.texas.gov/toxicology/dsd/final.html" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">45 toxic chemicals</a>, including arsenic, benzene, formaldehyde and hexavalent chromium, the carcinogen that made Erin Brockovich a household name.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Honeycutt also has attacked EPA rules for ground-level ozone (smog), which aggravates lung diseases, and particulate matter (PM) (soot), which has been linked to lung cancer, cardiovascular damage, reproductive problems and premature death. In October 2014, Honeycutt <a data-beacon="//www.tceq.texas.gov/assets/public/comm_exec/pubs/pd/020/2014/Outlook-Oct-2014-x.pdf" data-beacon-parsed="true" href="https://www.tceq.texas.gov/assets/public/comm_exec/pubs/pd/020/2014/Outlook-Oct-2014-x.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">argued</a> that there would be “little to no public health benefit from lowering the current [ozone] standard” because “most people spend more than 90 percent of their time indoors” and “systems such as air conditioning remove it from indoor air.” And despite the <a data-beacon="//www.nrdc.org/experts/john-walke/political-vendetta-against-health-safeguards-founded-shocking-falsehoods" data-beacon-parsed="true" href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/john-walke/political-vendetta-against-health-safeguards-founded-shocking-falsehoods" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">overwhelming scientific evidence</a> directly linking fine soot particles to premature death, Honeycutt <a data-beacon="//science.house.gov/sites/republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/hearings/HHRG-112-%20SY20-WState-MHoneycutt-20120606.pdf" data-beacon-parsed="true" href="https://science.house.gov/sites/republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/hearings/HHRG-112-%20SY20-WState-MHoneycutt-20120606.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">testified</a> before Congress in June 2012 that “some studies even suggest PM makes you live longer.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Better Living Through Chemistry...</font></strong></p></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ref</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/12/18/16532/texas-weakens-chemical-exposure-guidelines-opens-door-polluters"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/12/18/16532/texas-weakens-chemical-exposure-guidelines-opens-door-polluters</font></a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">AUSTIN— In 2007, Texas regulators quietly relaxed the state’s long-term air pollution guideline for benzene, one of the world’s most toxic and thoroughly studied chemicals. The number they came up with, still in effect, was 40 percent weaker, or less health-protective, than the old one.</font></div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The decision by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) was a boon for oil refineries, petrochemical plants and other benzene-emitting facilities, because it allowed them to release more benzene into the air without triggering regulatory scrutiny. But it defied the trend of scientific research, which shows that even small amounts of benzene can cause leukemia. The American Petroleum Institute, lobbyist for some of the nation’s largest benzene producers, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/12/04/16320/benzene-and-worker-cancers-american-tragedy" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">privately acknowledged</a> as early as 1948 that the only "absolutely safe" dose was zero.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It’s "the most irresponsible action I've heard of in my life," said Jim Tarr, an air-quality consultant who worked for the TCEQ’s predecessor agency in the 1970s. "I certainly can't find another regulatory agency in the U.S. that's done that."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The benzene decision was part of Texas’ sweeping overhaul of its air pollution guidelines. An analysis by InsideClimate News shows that the TCEQ has loosened two-thirds of the protections for the <a href="https://www.tceq.texas.gov/toxicology/dsd/final.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">45 chemicals</a> it has re-assessed since 2007, even though the state’s guidelines at the time were already among the nation’s weakest.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The changes are being supervised by TCEQ toxicologist Michael Honeycutt, who began updating the way Texas develops its guidelines in 2003, when he was promoted to division chief. A genial, bespectacled man who takes great pride in his work, Honeycutt is a trusted advisor to top TCEQ officials and often acts as the agency’s scientific spokesman. He is also a frequent critic of federal efforts to reduce air pollution.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Honeycutt's actions reflect Texas’s pro-industry approach to air quality, which InsideClimate News and the Center for Public Integrity</b> <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/environment/big-oil-bad-air" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">have been examining</a>for the past year and a half.  Most of the air-quality guidelines the state’s oil and gas producers are supposed to meet are not legally enforceable regulations. That means violators are rarely punished, and residents who complain about foul air near drilling sites have few places to turn for help.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Texas has made its anti-regulatory stance known on the national front. Attorney General Greg Abbott, the state’s governor-elect, has taken legal action against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 19 times since 2010, arguing that overly restrictive regulations stifle business growth, cost jobs and threaten the state’s economy.  The EPA is “a runaway federal agency that must be reined in,” <a href="https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/oagnews/release.php?id=4381" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">Abbott said</a> last year when he challenged greenhouse gas regulations.  </font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Honeycutt has publicly criticized the EPA for being overzealous in its regulation of ozone, which exacerbates asthma; particulate matter, a known respiratory hazard; and hexavalent chromium, the cancer-causing chemical that launched the Erin Brockovich case. In testimony before a congressional committee in 2011, he<a href="http://democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Final-Transcript-EE-Chemical-Risk-Assessment-Jobs-and-Economy-2011-10-6.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;"> said</a> the EPA had been overly cautious in evaluating the toxicity of mercury, a powerful neurotoxin known to lower IQ. Mercury is particularly harmful to developing fetuses.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"EPA ignores the fact that Japanese eat 10 times more fish than Americans do and have higher levels of mercury in their blood, but have lower rates of coronary heart disease and high scores on their IQ tests," <a href="http://www.tceq.com/assets/public/implementation/tox/testimony/oct6th/responses.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">Honeycutt said in a letter</a> responding to written questions from one of the committee members after the hearing.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20141027/after-18-years-swan-song-deep-blue-democrat-texas-legislature" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">State Rep. Lon Burnam</a>, a Fort Worth Democrat who has tried for years to strengthen Texas public health regulations, said Honeycutt's role as chief toxicologist is more political than scientific.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"I consider him an apologist for the polluters," Burnam said. "I think he doesn't give a tinker's dam about public health."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Honeycutt said the toxicologists on his staff are good scientists who take their jobs seriously.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></p><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">ref PM holocaust secert sci</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/john-walke/political-vendetta-against-health-safeguards-founded-shocking-falsehoods">
</a></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/john-walke/political-vendetta-against-health-safeguards-founded-shocking-falsehoods">https://www.nrdc.org/experts/john-walke/political-vendetta-against-health-safeguards-founded-shocking-falsehoods</a></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><header class="post-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; position: relative;"><h1 style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1em; margin: 20px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Political Vendetta Against Health Safeguards Founded on Shocking Falsehoods</font></h1><div class="byline list-reset" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 30px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(225, 225, 225);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="byline-text author-date" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; border-right: 1px solid rgb(225, 225, 225); padding: 6px 10px 6px 0px;">August 01, 2013</span> <span class="byline-text author-name" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; border-right: none; padding: 6px 10px;"><span class="bio-wrap" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/john-walke" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline-block;">John Walke</a> </span></span></font></div></header><div class="page-node-wrap post-content" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 1024px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 0px;"><div class="l-content-full-wrap" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span class="body-content" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Some Congressional Republicans have mounted a feverish campaign against long-established science showing a clear causal association between fine soot pollution (PM2.5) and premature death. Their all-too-transparent agenda is to attack clean air health safeguards that are projected to <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/cgi-bin/mt/(http:/www.epa.gov/mats/pdfs/20111221MATSimpactsfs.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">save tens of thousands of lives</a> and <a href="http://www.epa.gov/ttn/ecas/regdata/RIAs/finalria.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">avoid hundreds of thousands of asthma attacks and heart attacks annually</a>, while <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/inforeg/2013_cb/draft_2013_cost_benefit_report.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">delivering health benefits to Americans that outweigh costs to polluters by tens of billions of dollars</a>. Republicans have <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/blogs/jwalke/mercury_and_toxic_pollution_ha_1.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">failed</a> in numerous <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/blogs/jwalke/extreme_dirty_air_amendments_l.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">prior attempts</a> to eliminate these safeguards legislatively.</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">So now they have revived and ramped up a political tactic from the late 1990's that already has been discredited, when Republicans and industry lobbyists unsuccessfully challenged EPA's 1997 smog and soot standards. (Query: where were Republican members of Congress with their indignation and assaults when the George W. Bush administration relied upon these same studies and science for 8 years?)</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">Congressman Lamar Smith (R-TX ) has <a href="http://science.house.gov/sites/republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/07-22-2013%20Smith%20and%20Stewart%20to%20McCarthy.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">vowed to subpoena EPA</a> to seize confidential patient data underlying a subset of the medical studies showing this soot-death linkage. Smith took to <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323829104578624562008231682.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">the pages of the Wall Street Journal </a>this week to level a fusillade of charges against EPA that was as notable for its cascade of misrepresentations and omitted facts, as it was for its vehemence.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">In this post I will examine some of the facts you would never know from hearing just the politicized Republican view of soot pollution, as well as crucial information that these politicians are misrepresenting, selectively misquoting and ignoring.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">Misrepresenting the Full Body of Scientific Evidence: </span><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323829104578624562008231682.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">Republican lawmakers pretend</a>that the massive body of scientific evidence showing a causal association between soot pollution and mortality comes down to “secret” data from just two studies. This pretense is flat out false. The most basic investigation of public resources reveals a much broader body of scientific studies examining and reaffirming the causal association between fine soot pollution and mortality. These studies post-date the so-called "<a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199312093292401" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">Harvard Six Cities</a>" and "<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7881654" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">American Cancer Society</a>" studies, some of them independently re-analyze the studies, and they consistently find the same causal soot-mortality relationship.</p><ul style="box-sizing: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 40px 20px; padding: 0px;"><li style="box-sizing: inherit; list-style: none outside; line-height: 1.68em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 16px;">In revising and updating National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter, EPA devotes an entire chapter of its Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) to cataloguing and reviewing updated health effects studies, and explaining how they were incorporated into the agency's 2012 standards review. See, <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">e.g.</em>, <a href="http://www.epa.gov/ttn/ecas/regdata/RIAs/finalria.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">here</a> (at pp. 5-7 to 5-8 listing 5 updates from the proposed 2012 RIA; fig 5-4 at p. 5-73; pp. 5-31 to 5-35).</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; list-style: none outside; line-height: 1.68em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 16px;">In 2009, Dr. C. Arden Pope published “<a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa0805646#t=article" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">Fine-Particulate Air Pollution and Life Expectancy in the United States</a>,” reaffirming past studies and finding “improvements in life expectancy during the 1980s and 1990s were associated with reductions in fine-particulate pollution across the study areas, even after adjustment for various socioeconomic, demographic, and proxy variables.”</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; list-style: none outside; line-height: 1.68em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 16px;">In 2013, Dr. Andrew W. Correia published “<a href="http://journals.lww.com/epidem/Abstract/2013/01000/Effect_of_Air_Pollution_Control_on_Life_Expectancy.4.aspx" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">Effect of Air Pollution Control on Life Expectancy in the United States: An Analysis of 545 U.S. Counties for the Period from 2000 to 2007</a>.” This study found increases in mean life expectancy with decreases in PM2.5 concentrations, with stronger associations “in more urban and densely populated counties.” The study concludes that “[r]eductions in PM2.5 were associated with improvements in life expectancy for the period from 2000 to 2007. Air pollution control in the last decade has continued to have a positive impact on public health.”</li></ul><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">I could go on and on listing individual studies. But the first bullet above contains some of those studies for readers wishing to dive deeper than Congressman Smith has.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">Misrepresenting Independent Scientific Reanalysis:</span> Congressman Smith charges in his <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323829104578624562008231682.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">Wall Street Journal op-ed</a> that the data in the Harvard and American Cancer Society studies “have not been subjected to scrutiny and analysis by independent scientists.” This is an especially outrageous falsehood.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">In December 2012, a seminal <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(12)61766-8/fulltext" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">report</a> [pdf] entitled the 2010 Global Burden of Disease "<a href="http://www.healtheffects.org/International/GBD-Press-Release.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">estimate[d] over 2.1 million premature deaths and 52 million years of healthy life lost in 2010 due to ambient fine particle air pollution, fully 2/3 of the burden worldwide</a>." Drawing upon a broad body of data and studies from around the world, the report examined the risks of premature mortality linked to soot pollution and independently affirmed the results of the Harvard Six Cities study. The Global Burden of Disease researchers <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(12)61766-8/fulltext" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">found</a> significant mortality impacts from fine particulate pollution. They concluded that “[t]he magnitude of disease burden from particulate matter is substantially higher than estimated in previous comparative risk assessment analyses.”</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">As explained in a <a href="http://www.healtheffects.org/International/GBD-Press-Release.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">release</a> by the esteemed Health Effects Institute, a contributor to the report, "[t]he 2010 [Global Burden of Disease report] was produced by a rigorous scientific process involving over 450 global experts and led by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington along with its partner institutions: the World Health Organization, the University of Queensland, Australia, Johns Hopkins University, and Harvard University."</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">Similarly, in July 2000, the Health Effects Institute issued a special <a href="http://pubs.healtheffects.org/getfile.php?u=274" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">report</a> entitled “Reanalysis of the Harvard Six Cities Study and the American Cancer Society Study of Particulate Air Pollution and Mortality.” The explicit goal of that study was “to conduct a rigorous and independent assessment of the findings of the Six Cities and ACS Studies of air pollution and mortality.” (p.ii) To accomplish this goal, the team of researchers had “access to the original data” once they entered into contractual agreements and a Memorandum of Understanding to ensure that confidentiality was protected. (p.4). The report concluded that “reanalyses assured the quality of the original data, replicated the original results, and tested those results against alternative risk models and analytic approaches” (pp.iii-iv).</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">(For those unfamiliar with HEI, it is "<a href="http://www.healtheffects.org/about.htm" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">a nonprofit corporation chartered in 1980 as an independent research organization to provide high-quality, impartial, and relevant science on the health effects of air pollution.</a>" Funded jointly by the federal government and industry, it is an honest broker that has garnered widespread respect for its scientific expertise, integrity and research excellence.)</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">EPA's <a href="http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/CFM/recordisplay.cfm?deid=216546#Download" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">Integrated Science Assessment</a> for the PM2.5 standards explained (p. 7-95) that the Harvard and ACS studies have "undergone extensive independent reanalysis," and "were based on cohorts that were broadly representative of the U.S. population." Reviewing this assessment and the broader body of epidemiological and toxicological studies, EPA's official Clean Air Science Advisory Committee (CASAC) <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CDEQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fofmpub.epa.gov%2Feims%2Feimscomm.getfile%3Fp_download_id%3D508496&ei=jYr5UY6DFpP84AOB8oHQDA&usg=AFQjCNEz02Wys1Soq5yd5_P7EzQXxiXl3Q&sig2=Wxuvid5ossa1kshY-xNWGw" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">recommended</a> “'upgrading' the causal classification for PM2.5 and total mortality to 'causal' for both the short-term and long-term time frames." CASAC further found "[t]here are epidemiological studies showing a positive association of all-cause mortality with PM2.5.”</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">A 2010 American Heart Association <a href="http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/121/21/2331.full.pdf+html" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">study</a>, entitled "Particulate Matter Air Pollution and Cardiovascular Disease: An Update to the Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association," concluded that "intensive independent reanalyses corroborated the original findings of both [the Harvard and ACS] studies and resulted in innovative methodological contributions that demonstrated the robustness of the results to alternative modeling approaches." "Since 2004, there have been further reanalysis of both studies."</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">So even if the entire body of soot-mortality causation evidence did rest on the solid foundation of the Harvard and American Cancer Society studies—a cramped view that is demonstrably false—those studies have been independently and repeatedly reanalyzed and reaffirmed by other peer-reviewed scientific studies and initiatives.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">Misrepresenting Views of the National Academy of Sciences:</span> Congressman Smith's op-ed took further aim at the scientific data EPA has relied upon for its clean air health standards with this oblique, abbreviated <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323829104578624562008231682.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">claim</a>: "The National Academy of Sciences declared in 2004 that the data EPA is using is of 'little use for decison-making.'"</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">This claim is immediately puzzling, since a more recent 2010 report from EPA's Science Advisory Board, which includes members of the Academy, <a href="http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/0/72d4efa39e48cdb28525774500738776/%24FILE/EPA-COUNCIL-10-001-unsigned.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">concludes</a> that the soot-related mortality "benefit estimates that EPA derives for [particulate matter] are based on two well-researched and highly respected cohort studies of air pollution health effects, the Harvard Six Cities Study and the American Cancer Study (ACS) Cancer Prevention Study. These are good foundations for the health benefits estimates for PM and these studies are supported by other recent studies and expert evidence gathered by the EPA project team."</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">The puzzle is cleared up by a must-read, devastating <a href="http://democrats.science.house.gov/sites/democrats.science.house.gov/files/07.30.2013%20-%20Letter%20from%20Ranking%20Member%20Johnson%20to%20Chairman%20Smith%20re%20EPA%20requests.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">letter </a>to Chairman Smith from Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) that I will simply quote in relevant part:</p><blockquote style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 40px 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4em;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 18px;">This is a gross mis-characterization of what the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report says. What is most remarkable about this mischaracterization is that you actually provided the original NAS document in one of your previous letters which you attached to the July 22 letter. The relevant sentence you purport to paraphrase reads in full:</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 18px;">"Although these cohorts have provided critical evidence for long-term effects, evidence from further follow-up of these two U.S. cohorts alone will have <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">little use for decisionmaking</span>." (emphasis added)</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 18px;">I assume that the mis-characterization in your July 22 letter is due to a misunderstanding between a research finding and a cohort. However, if this is a case of misunderstanding then it gives me great pause in considering the prospect of you and your staff receiving the underlying data being sought.</p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">An especially intemperate July 22 <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/blogs/jwalke/07-22-2013%20Smith%20and%20Stewart%20to%20McCarthy.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">letter</a> from Congressman Smith to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy repeats the selectively misquoted snippet above while continuing to ignore the broader body of supportive scientific studies. Then Congressman Smith's letter actually has the gall to accuse <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">EPA</em> of "practice[s] border[ing] on scientific misonduct" in his own missive that commits serial violations of scientific misconduct.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">One could also add, as amply demonstrated above, that EPA is not relying upon these two cohorts or the Harvard and ACS studies <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">alone </em>in the agency's decionmaking or rulemakings.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">Misrepresenting With Salacious “Secrecy” Charges: </span>The Republican political campaign against clean air health standards has settled on a "secret data" talking point that owes more to an overarching, conspiratorial political narrative to characterize the current administration (think IRS, NSA) than it does to any truth. EPA has flat out rejected this secrecy charge:</p><blockquote style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 40px 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4em;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 18px;">The EPA is transparent with regard to the scientific bases of agency decision making and disagrees with assessments and your assertion that the agency relies on "secret" data in regulatory actions and of health benefits. In setting the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)in assessing health benefits anticipated from air pollution regulations, the EPA relies on the scientific studies that are published in the peer-reviewed literature. The EPA provides the information used in regulatory decisions, including the epidemiological studies, in the publicly available docket accompanying each rulemaking.</p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">As EPA already has explained to Senator David Vitter (R-LA) in <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/blogs/jwalke/04-10-13%20EPA%20letter%20to%20Senator%20Vitter.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">April</a> and <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/blogs/jwalke/7-9-13%20EPA%20letter%20to%20Senator%20Vitter.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">July</a>, 2013 letters that Congressman Smith's office either is unaware of or ignores:</p><ul style="box-sizing: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 40px 20px; padding: 0px;"><li style="box-sizing: inherit; list-style: none outside; line-height: 1.68em; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 16px;">"The complete, linked set of data underlying these studies is held by the scientific researchers that conducted the relevant research, not the EPA."</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; list-style: none outside; line-height: 1.68em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 16px;">"With regard to your request for the underlying raw data from the relevant studies, the EPA has requested from the relevant researchers the research data required to be provided under the Shelby Amendment, consistent with applicable protections for private medical and similar information. As indicated in the enclosed letters, this request has been made for the two remaining studies that are the subject of your request that are subject to the Shelby Amendment."</li></ul><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">So why is Congressman Smith preparing to subpoena data from EPA that the agency does not have; that EPA has told Congress it does not have; and that the agency has requested from the researchers that do have the data? Who knows, but it's hard not to conclude that the House GOP subpoena enterprise is politically motivated and publicity-driven.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">The truth is there is a basic difference between secrecy and confidential patient data subject to confidentiality agreements. The researchers and reanalysis initiatives that committed to the confidentiality policies of the relevant research institutions, as HEI and the GBD teams did, were able to access the data.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">Congresswoman Johnson's <a href="http://democrats.science.house.gov/sites/democrats.science.house.gov/files/07.30.2013%20-%20Letter%20from%20Ranking%20Member%20Johnson%20to%20Chairman%20Smith%20re%20EPA%20requests.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">letter</a> offered a searing commentary with one possible, indeed obvious, motivation behind the Republican subpoena:</p><blockquote style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 40px 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4em;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 18px;">Others may suggest that these are efforts to supply outside parties with data that they otherwise could not obtain. I would also strongly object to obtaining this data for outside parties, who would not otherwise be given access to this sensitive data. That is not our job. ....</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 18px;">I am forced to question the scientific legitimacy of groups which cannot already obtain this data. They must not be legitimate scientists or must be untrustworthy with human research subject data, or they could simply apply to the American Cancer Society directly. I certainly don't think Congress should be obtaining confidential human research data to supply to outside groups that can't pass ethical muster, and I sincerely hope that is not the goal of this endeavor. </p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">The Congresswoman's letter asks the simple question: "And for what purpose?"</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">It is noteworthy that industry attorneys challenging EPA’s various ambient air quality standards have not even bothered or deigned to waste words in their legal briefs on the salacious “secret data” charge because it is demonstrably false and lacks any legal weight. These highly capable industry attorneys know that EPA has more than enough studies, data and support in the publicly available rulemaking records to justify stronger clean air standards. And they are right, with federal courts upholding <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">every one of EPA’s air quality standards</em> in the face of industry lawsuits.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">Some Congressional Republicans have chosen to manufacture a false political controversy over the clear scientific evidence, <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">precisely because</em> there is no serious legal or scientific dispute about the validity of the evidence.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">Misrepresenting White House Statements: </span>Congressman Smith’s op-ed also <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323829104578624562008231682.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">asserts</a> that “President Obama's Office of Management and Budget recently acknowledged that ‘significant uncertainty remains’ about the EPA's claims based on its data sets, saying that the claims ‘may be misleading’ and should be treated with caution.” This misrepresentation rivals the outrageous falseness of the independent reanalysis claim.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">The OMB report snippets quoted in the congressman’s op-ed were <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">not directed </em>at the causal association between fine soot pollution and mortality found in the Harvard and American Cancer Society studies. The <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/inforeg/2013_cb/draft_2013_cost_benefit_report.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">passage from the OMB report</a> (p.15) makes abundantly clear that the Congressman's selectively (mis)quoted characterizations of the report concerned entirely different issues: (1) “the <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">ranges</em> of benefits <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">and</em> costs” that OMB believed should be “treated with some caution”; and (2) “<em style="box-sizing: inherit;">aggregating</em> high and low-estimates” of benefits and costs that could “result in <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">totals</em> that may be misleading.”</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">I suspect EPA would readily admit the uncertainties associated with the ranges, high-end and low-end estimates of avoided premature deaths, along with other health endpoints and cost projections. But this is wildly different from charging that OMB agrees with contentions that the causal association between soot and death is itself uncertain or EPA’s findings are misleading. What is shockingly misleading, instead, is the way that Congressman Smith’s op-end misrepresents the OMB report.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">And what of uncertainty? Scientists would be the first to acknowledge that uncertainty is a perennial feature of scientific inquiry and research. A <a href="http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10511.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">2002 National Research Council report</a>, aptly entitled “Estimating the Public Health Benefits of Proposed Air Pollution Regulations,” makes the following sensible points that some politicians willfully ignore:</p><blockquote style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 40px 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4em;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 18px;">Even great uncertainty does not imply that action to promote or protect public health should be delayed. Decisions about whether to act, when to act, and how aggressively to act can only be made with some understanding of the likelihood and consequences of alternative courses of action. The potential for improving decisions through research must be balanced against the public health costs incurred because of a delay in the implementation of controls. Complete certainty is an unattainable ideal. (<a href="http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10511.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">pp.126-127</a>)</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 18px;">There is a common misperception that a high degree of certainty is required for regulatory actions to take place to protect public health. As a result, primary health benefits analyses that more fully and accurately portray the uncertainties might not be considered useful. It is unrealistic for EPA to defer decisions until it can make them on the basis of perfect science. A careful and deliberate balancing of the benefits and costs is required, and this balancing must be informed by a fair assessment of the current levels of uncertainty and a realistic evaluation of the likely reductions in uncertainty attainable through further research. (<a href="http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10511.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">p.148</a>)</p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">So even the OMB report’s statements about uncertainty in benefit-cost totals and ranges must be understood in light of the NRC’s sensible commitment to public health.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">Misrepresenting EPA’s Responsiveness to Congress:</span> While this is more political theatrics than scientific insult, Congressman Smith’s <a href="http://science.house.gov/sites/republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/07-22-2013%20Smith%20and%20Stewart%20to%20McCarthy.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">recent letter</a> to EPA attempts to paint the agency as unresponsive to legitimate congressional inquiries, by cataloguing a series of correspondence to which EPA allegedly has failed to respond. The problem with this, as <a href="http://democrats.science.house.gov/sites/democrats.science.house.gov/files/07.30.2013%20-%20Letter%20from%20Ranking%20Member%20Johnson%20to%20Chairman%20Smith%20re%20EPA%20requests.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">Congresswoman Johnson’s letter</a> points out, is that “EPA has responded on at least two occasions with detailed information pertaining to the studies you requested.” And EPA has <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/blogs/jwalke/7-9-13%20EPA%20letter%20to%20Senator%20Vitter.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">responded</a> <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/blogs/jwalke/04-10-13%20EPA%20letter%20to%20Senator%20Vitter.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">separately</a> to similar inquiries by Senator Vitter leading up to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy’s confirmation. It’s one thing if those responses have not satisfied Congressman Smith; but it just seems petty and sensationalist to imply wrongly that the agency has not responded to earlier inquiries.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">This is not new, this politicized campaign against clean air health safeguards founded on attacking and misrepresenting established science. As I wrote in a June 2012 <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/blogs/jwalke/incredible_quotes_by_critics_a.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">blog post</a>following a House committee hearing where I testified:</p><blockquote style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 40px 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4em;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 18px;">Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), while <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2011/04/20/174997/barton-mercury-denier/" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">noting</a> helpfully that he was not a “medical doctor,” nonetheless asserted at a congressional hearing that there was no “medical negative” to mercury and soot pollution. He went on to claim that EPA’s numbers on premature deaths that the mercury and air toxics standards helped avoid were “pulled out of the thin air.” Unsurprisingly, real doctors at the American Lung Association, American Public Health Association and American Academy of Pediatrics wrote Barton expressing that they “<a href="http://www.lung.org/get-involved/advocate/advocacy-documents/doctors-letter-to.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">were shocked at such statements</a>.” [pdf]. These actual doctors responded to Barton’s outrageous statements as “professionals that treat patients who are impacted by lung, cardiovascular and neurological impairments” linked to air pollution. These doctors “see in the patients we treat what [] the scientific literature lets us know to expect: that air pollution makes people sick and cuts lives short.”</p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">The doctors’ letter included an attachment listing dozens of studies showing the “medical negatives” from soot pollution, including premature death. To my knowledge, Congressman Barton never did respond to the doctors’ letter.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">If Congress establishes the practice through legislation or subpoenas or political gamesmanship in which any American can expect their most private medical information to fall into the hands of lawyers and lobbyists and corporations or even the Internet, more thoughtful elected leaders will have to ask themselves how we are going to conduct these health studies in the future. Why would anyone sensibly participate in studies knowing that confidential patient data could become the play thing of politicians and industry?</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.875em; margin: 0px 0px 40px;">As Congresswoman Johnson put it in her <a href="http://democrats.science.house.gov/sites/democrats.science.house.gov/files/07.30.2013%20-%20Letter%20from%20Ranking%20Member%20Johnson%20to%20Chairman%20Smith%20re%20EPA%20requests.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 0.5s ease; text-decoration-line: none;">letter</a> to Chairman Smith: "The truth is that there is no reason to warrant violating the trust of hundreds of thousands of American citizens who volunteered their personal information to make everybody's lives better."</p></div></span><div class="post-tags" style="box-sizing: inherit; position: relative; margin: 0px; padding: 30px 0px 0px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(225, 225, 225);"><span class="label" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-transform: uppercase; margin: 0px 0px 4px; display: block;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">TAGS:</font></span><ul class="inline-list doc-tags" style="box-sizing: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 8px 6px 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; list-style-position: outside;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">cleanairact</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; 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</b></div><div class="username" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;"><font face="Times New Roman"><span class="genna-reed" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/author/genna-reed" title="Posts by Genna Reed" rel="author" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">GENNA REED</a>,</span> LEAD SCIENCE AND POLICY ANALYST | SEPTEMBER 26, 2017, 3:27 PM EDT</font></div><div class="php-widget-top" data-user="genna-reed" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div id="custom_html-4" class="widget_text widget widget_custom_html" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;"><div class="textwidget custom-html-widget" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="the_author_nickname" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="article-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 866px; clear: both;"><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman">In its effort to fill fifteen positions on the Science Advisory Board, the EPA <a href="https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebProjectsCurrentBOARD/09ED9DB7B1C5BFF18525814B00711533/$File/SAB%202017%20biosketches%20LOC%20post%2009062017.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">has posted a list </a>of 132 nominees to be a part of the esteemed <a href="https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabpeople.nsf/WebCommittees/BOARD" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB</a>). The SAB is a group of over forty scientists, experts in a range of disciplines, who provide peer review and expert advice on EPA issue areas.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman">While many of the nominees are highly qualified and distinguished in their fields, there are a handful of individuals that are extremely concerning due to their direct financial conflicts, their lack of experience and/or their historical opposition to the work of the EPA in advancing its mission to protect public health and the environment.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman"><span id="more-53972" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></font></p><div id="attachment_53975" class="wp-caption alignright" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 17px 17px; padding: 5px; float: right; text-align: center; max-width: 370px;"><img class=" wp-image-53975" src="http://blog.ucsusa.org/wp-content/uploads/SABest.png" alt="" width="360" height="377" srcset="https://cdn.blog.ucsusa.org/wp-content/uploads/SABest.png 578w, https://cdn.blog.ucsusa.org/wp-content/uploads/SABest-286x300.png 286w, https://cdn.blog.ucsusa.org/wp-content/uploads/SABest-105x110.png 105w" sizes="(max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: none; display: block; max-width: 100%; height: auto;" /><p class="wp-caption-text" style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 13px 0px 16px 5px; line-height: 1.5em; text-align: left; font-style: italic; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153);"><font face="Times New Roman">The SAB was established by the Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration Authorization Act of 1978 and operates as a federal advisory committee under the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972. Note that board members should be experts in their fields, with the training and experience to evaluate EPA-relevant scientific and technical matters. Source: U.S. GPO</font></p></div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman">Many of these concerning individuals <a href="https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/09/14/stories/1060060647" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">were nominated by</a> Heartland Institute—an organization that has <a href="http://blog.ucsusa.org/brenda-ekwurzel/deja-vu-all-over-again-heartland-institute-peddling-misinformation-to-teachers-about-climate-change" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">actively worked to sow doubt</a> about climate change science—and have the seal of approval by<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Trump EPA transition team member and Heartland staffer, <a href="http://blog.ucsusa.org/genna-reed/the-wall-street-journal-gets-it-wrong-on-epa-scientific-integrityagain" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">Steve Milloy</a>. When <a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060060647" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">interviewed</a> about some of the names on the nominee list, Milloy said that he is glad that EPA administrator Scott Pruitt is in office since he’ll be brave enough to reconstitute the SAB. A “thumbs up” from Milloy is an immediate red flag for me.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">My colleague, Andrew Rosenberg, categorized questionable political appointees in three distinct buckets<a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiC4MTHxb7WAhUGSRoKHT0TDNAQFggoMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.ucsusa.org%2Fandrew-rosenberg%2Fbringing-down-the-house-a-hostile-takeover-of-science-based-policymaking-by-trump-appointees&usg=AFQjCNHxe5146jpbje5w-Fw913CgI6a8kw" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">: the conflicted, the opposed, and the unqualified</a>.</span> The same can be said of nominees for the SAB. You don’t have to dig too deep to find individuals who may appear to be qualified on paper, but have a track record of undermining the work of the EPA and advancing policies that benefit special interests over the general public. Appointing these individuals to the SAB would be in direct opposition to the critical work of the SAB itself and to the EPA’s mission.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman">Take Dr. <b>Michael Honeycutt, lead toxicologist at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality,</b> for example. <a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060042130" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">Industry representatives,</a> including at the American Chemistry Council, ExxonMobil, and the Texas Oil and Gas Association <a href="http://www.houstonpress.com/news/controversial-tceq-scientist-aims-for-epa-panel-seat-8658954" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">launched a campaign</a> to get Honeycutt appointed to the CASAC in 2016, which fortunately was unsuccessful. Now Honeycutt’s name is on the list for the SAB.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman">He co-authored an article in 2015 that argued that available science did not support the EPA’s assertion that tighter ozone standards would provide significant public health benefits. In criticizing the scientific studies used by the EPA, Honeycutt has cherrypicked studies to exaggerate uncertainty on risks of ozone pollution, including making hay of the argument that ozone pollution isn’t a huge issue because “most people spend more than 90 percent of their time indoors,” which has been picked up and spouted off by climate deniers, like <a href="https://www.forbes.com/2010/01/26/environmental-protection-agency-ozone-science-opinions-contributors-michael-fumento.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">Michael Fumento</a>.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman">Honeycutt has also served on the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120927092649/http:/www.allianceforrisk.org:80/ARA_About_ARA.htm" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">steering committee of the Alliance for Risk Assessment</a> (ARA), along with President Trump’s nominee to head the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/19/science/epa-chemical-industry-dourson.html?mcubz=1&_r=0" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">Michael Dourson.</a> The ARA was created by the <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/20141219/one-stop-science-shop-has-become-favorite-industry%E2%80%94and-texas" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">TERA</a>, an organization founded by Dourson that does research for industry and maintains a database of risk assessments.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman">According to <a href="http://www.tera.org/about/2015%20Funding.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">its website</a>, about a third of TERA’s funding comes from the private sector, including the American Chemistry Council and Coca-Cola. Rena Steinzor, professor at the University of Maryland School of Law has accused TERA of <a href="https://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/12/19/16546/one-stop-science-shop-has-become-favorite-industry-and-texas" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">“whitewashing the work of industry.”</a> The <a href="https://wallacehouse.umich.edu/wp-content-uploads/2016/02/song.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">TCEQ has awarded TERA</a> at least $700,000 in contracts between 2010 and 2014.  As a steering committee member, Honeycutt oversaw ARA scientific reviews of TCEQ work. While Honeycutt claims that he recused himself from those projects, the quagmire of ties between TCEQ, ARA, and TERA are hard to dispute, especially when you consider that during those same years, the <a href="https://wallacehouse.umich.edu/wp-content-uploads/2016/02/song.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">TCEQ loosened two-thirds of the already-weak protections</a> for the 45 chemicals it chose to reassess between 2007 and 2014. In 2013, The TCEQ <a href="http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/TCEQ-funded-ozone-research-under-scrutiny-6351799.php" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">paid $1.6 million to another industry-friendly consulting firm, Gradient</a>, to review EPA’s science on ozone.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman">Honeycutt has spent his career at TCEQ politicizing the EPA and actively working to obstruct science used to inform important standards at the agency, so it seems out of character for him to want so badly to be a member of an EPA science advisory committee. Unless, of course, he is interested in the platform or the ability to provide formal advice to his personal friend, Michael Dourson.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman"><b>What does Honeycutt have in common with fellow nominee, Dr. John Graham?<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> </span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Under Graham’s leadership in January 2006, The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a proposed<a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/omb/inforeg/proposed_risk_assessment_bulletin_010906.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;"> Risk Assessment Bulletin</a> which would have covered any scientific or technical document assessing human health or environmental risks.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">OMB asked the National Academy of Sciences’ National Research Council (NRC) to conduct an independent review of the document. <a href="https://www.nap.edu/catalog/11811/scientific-review-of-the-proposed-risk-assessment-bulletin-from-the-office-of-management-and-budget" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">Its study</a> gave the OMB a failing grade, calling the guidance a “fundamentally flawed” document which, if implemented, would have a high potential for negative impacts on the practice of risk assessment in the federal government. Among the reasons for their conclusions was that the bulletin oversimplified the degree of uncertainty that agencies must factor into all of their evaluations of risk. This idea for standardized risk assessment is of interest to regulatory reform advocates like Graham and has made its way into the dangerous <a href="http://blog.ucsusa.org/genna-reed/one-of-many-risks-of-the-regulatory-accountability-act-flawed-risk-assessment-guidelines" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">Regulatory Accountability Act</a> in Congress and into the new toxic substances rules under the Frank Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; top: -0.4em;">st</span> Century Act that Graham’s protégé and former ACC staffer, Nancy Beck, is now crafting from her position as Deputy Assistant Administrator of the EPA.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Before his stint at OMB, Graham led the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, which notably skewed risk analyses in favor of industry: costs saved by not regulating versus lives saved regulating. In one case, Graham’s OMB rejected a National Highway Transportation Safety Administration rule that would reduce the toll of vehicle rollovers by requiring that automakers install tire pressure warning systems. Graham made this decision despite the direct conflict of interest as his Harvard think tank <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2002/05/10/for-bushs-regulatory-czar-the-equation-is-persuasion/0b6695ee-bfe4-438b-9c4e-4e8c307e3b8e/?utm_term=.8ef01ab29654" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">was funded by</a> General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., Volvo Car Corp. and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman"><b>Another individual that the SAB should steer clear of is Dr. Richard Belzer</b>, an agricultural economist and, like Graham, is a cost-benefit-analysis enthusiast who worked for the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) from 1988 to 1998. In 2000, <a href="https://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/regulation/2000/10/lutter.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">Belzer criticized SAB’s role</a> in peer reviewing the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/benefits-and-costs-clean-air-act-1990-2020-second-prospective-study" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">EPA’s evaluation of costs and benefits of the Clean Air Act</a>. Belzer and his co-author called SAB’s reviews “ineffective” because, in their opinion, they couldn’t force the agency to change the direction of policy.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Belzer appears to misunderstand the purpose of the SAB which is to simply advise the agency on its science. The EPA has the discretion to heed that advice and apply it to policies. SAB members are not decision-makers, they are esteemed scientists whose expertise is best suited to evaluate scientific considerations, not political ones. In 2010, Belzer participated in </span><a href="http://www.aei.org/events/the-epas-ambitious-regulatory-agenda/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">a panel on “</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The EPA’s Ambitious Regulatory Agenda”</span></a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> sponsored by the<b style=""> American Enterprise Institute,</b> the description of which includes the erroneous statement: “all major EPA decisions are contentious.” According to <a href="https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/0/09ED9DB7B1C5BFF18525814B00711533/%24File/SAB%202017%20biosketches%20LOC%20post%2009062017.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">his bio</a>, his clients include ExxonMobil and American Chemistry Council. And speaking of American Chemistry Council…</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman"><b>Kimberly White,</b> senior director of chemical products and technology at the ACC is among those nominated to serve on the SAB. She has been summoned by House Science Committee Majority Staff, Lamar Smith, to testify at the hearing called <a href="https://science.house.gov/sites/republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/HHRG-115-SY-WState-KWhite-20170207.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">“Making EPA Great Again”</a> earlier this year where she spoke about the need to improve the SAB’s transparency and peer review methods and accused the EPA of being too involved in the SAB’s peer review process: “conversations that are happening in that peer review get stymied by [the] EPA’s input during the peer-review process so it’s not as independent as it should be.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman">She also agreed when one member of congress suggested that the SAB was not truly balanced and that there should be a devil’s advocate on the committee. Perhaps Dr. White wants to fill that very role. The problem with that, however, is that the American Chemistry Council and her previous employer, the <a href="http://blog.ucsusa.org/john-rogers/american-petroleum-institute-regresses-with-all-fossils-all-the-time-plan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">American Petroleum Institute</a>, are organizations that actively work to spread disinformation about a range of scientific topics to thwart the EPA’s work to keep us safe. Dr. White has <a href="https://chemicalwatch.com/57802/acc-calls-for-inclusion-of-industry-analysis-in-formaldehyde-assessment" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">criticized</a> an EPA assessment on formaldehyde, for example, because it wasn’t inclusive enough of science. Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen and <a href="http://blog.ucsusa.org/genna-reed/american-chemistry-council-obstructing-formaldehyde-safeguards-then-and-now" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">thanks in large part to ACC</a>, the EPA’s emissions standard for wood products set to be enforced in December has been delayed at least four months.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman">Who Pruitt appoints for the fifteen open positions will be a test to see whether he is going to continue seeking exclusive counsel from polluters. There are a handful of qualified scientists who have only served one term that can be easily reappointed for a second, which is common practice for the board. For the sake of continuity, it would behoove Pruitt to keep those experts on. For the other positions, it would be in the agency’s best interest for Pruitt to choose a balanced roster of new members from the dozens of well-qualified scientists on the list, rather than stack the committee with folks who have spent their careers working to undermine the mission of the EPA and weaken policies that are supposed to keep us safe.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman">All members of the public can submit comments encouraging the EPA to appoint independent and qualified scientists as advisors. You have until Thursday, September 28<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; top: -0.4em;">th</span> at 11:59pm to email your comment to Thomas Carpenter, the Designated Federal Officer of the SAB, at <a href="mailto:carpenter.thomas@epa.gov" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">carpenter.thomas@epa.gov</a>.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman"> </font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman"> </font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman">Posted in: <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/category/science-and-democracy" rel="category tag" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">Science and Democracy</a> Tags: <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/tag/american-chemistry-council" rel="tag" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">American Chemistry Council</a>, <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/tag/american-petroleum-institute" rel="tag" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">American Petroleum Institute</a>, <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/tag/epa-science-advisory-board" rel="tag" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">EPA Science Advisory Board</a>, <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/tag/heartland-institute" rel="tag" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">Heartland Institute</a>, <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/tag/oira" rel="tag" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">OIRA</a>, <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/tag/regulatory-reform" rel="tag" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">Regulatory Reform</a>, <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/tag/science-advisory-committees" rel="tag" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">Science Advisory Committees</a></font></p></div><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><div><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; 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text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.environmentalintegrity.org/news/epa-packs-sab-with-industry/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.environmentalintegrity.org/news/epa-packs-sab-with-industry/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAAegQIAhAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.environmentalintegrity.org/news/epa-packs-sab-with-industry/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.environmentalintegrity.org/news/epa-packs-sab-with-industry/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAAegQIAhAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">The Fix Is In: EPA Packs Science Advisory Boards with Industry ...</a></div></h3>
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cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.57; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span class="f" style="line-height: 1.57;">Nov 3, 2017 - </span>Both the <span style="font-weight: bold;">SAB</span> and the CASAC were created by Congress in the 1970s to provide ... <span style="font-weight: bold;">John</span> D. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Graham</span> also has a dangerous ideological agenda.</span></a></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 27px;"><div data-hveid="CAQQAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFSgAMAF6BAgEEAA"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><div class="r" style="margin: 0px; line-height: 1.57;"><a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/genna-reed/who-not-to-pick-for-the-epas-science-advisory-board" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://blog.ucsusa.org/genna-reed/who-not-to-pick-for-the-epas-science-advisory-board&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjABegQIBBAB" style="cursor: pointer; 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text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/genna-reed/who-not-to-pick-for-the-epas-science-advisory-board" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://blog.ucsusa.org/genna-reed/who-not-to-pick-for-the-epas-science-advisory-board&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjABegQIBBAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/genna-reed/who-not-to-pick-for-the-epas-science-advisory-board" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://blog.ucsusa.org/genna-reed/who-not-to-pick-for-the-epas-science-advisory-board&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjABegQIBBAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Who Not to Pick for the EPA's Science Advisory Board - Union of ...</a></div></h3>
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text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjACegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjACegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjACegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjACegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjACegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjACegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><div class="ellip" style="overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjACegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjACegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjACegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjACegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjACegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjACegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjACegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjACegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjACegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjACegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjACegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjACegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjACegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjACegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjACegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/30/in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-scientists-who-receive-agency-funding-from-serving-as-advisers/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjACegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">In unprecedented move, EPA to block scientists who get agency ...</a></div></h3>
<div class="TbwUpd" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.57; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 1px;"><cite class="iUh30" style="font-style: normal; padding-top: 1px; line-height: 1.5;">https://www.washingtonpost.com/.../in-unprecedented-shift-epa-to-prohibit-s...</cite></div></div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.57;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.57; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span class="f" style="line-height: 1.57;">Oct 30, 2017 - </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">John</span> D. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Graham</span>, who now serves as dean of Indiana University's ... would allow for a dialogue on how best the <span style="font-weight: bold;">SAB</span> can work to ensure the ...</span></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 27px;"><div data-hveid="CAAQAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFSgAMAN6BAgAEAA"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><div class="r" style="margin: 0px; line-height: 1.57;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><h3 class="LC20lb" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-flex; max-width: 100%; line-height: 1.3;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><div class="ellip" style="overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjADegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">EPA's new science advisers add more industry experts, conservatives ...</a></div></h3>
<div class="TbwUpd" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.57; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 1px;"><cite class="iUh30" style="font-style: normal; padding-top: 1px; line-height: 1.5;">https://www.washingtonpost.com/.../pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-i...</cite></div></div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.57;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.57; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span class="f" style="line-height: 1.57;">Nov 4, 2017 - </span>The 44-member <span style="font-weight: bold;">SAB</span> has two representatives from environmental groups: the ... <span style="font-weight: bold;">John</span> D. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Graham</span>, who worked to raise the bar for new federal ...</span></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 27px;"><div data-hveid="CAEQAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFSgAMAR6BAgBEAA"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><div class="r" style="margin: 0px; line-height: 1.57;"><span class="sFZIhb b w xsm" style="font-weight: bold; cursor: auto; margin: 0px 3px 0px 0px; float: left;">[PDF]</span><a href="https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/$File/EPA-SAB-18-003+Unsigned.pdf" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/%24File/EPA-SAB-18-003%2BUnsigned.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAEegQIARAC" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><h3 class="LC20lb" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-flex; max-width: 100%; line-height: 1.3;"><a href="https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/$File/EPA-SAB-18-003+Unsigned.pdf" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/%24File/EPA-SAB-18-003%2BUnsigned.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAEegQIARAC" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/$File/EPA-SAB-18-003+Unsigned.pdf" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/%24File/EPA-SAB-18-003%2BUnsigned.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAEegQIARAC" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/$File/EPA-SAB-18-003+Unsigned.pdf" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/%24File/EPA-SAB-18-003%2BUnsigned.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAEegQIARAC" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/$File/EPA-SAB-18-003+Unsigned.pdf" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/%24File/EPA-SAB-18-003%2BUnsigned.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAEegQIARAC" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/$File/EPA-SAB-18-003+Unsigned.pdf" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/%24File/EPA-SAB-18-003%2BUnsigned.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAEegQIARAC" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/$File/EPA-SAB-18-003+Unsigned.pdf" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/%24File/EPA-SAB-18-003%2BUnsigned.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAEegQIARAC" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/$File/EPA-SAB-18-003+Unsigned.pdf" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/%24File/EPA-SAB-18-003%2BUnsigned.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAEegQIARAC" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/$File/EPA-SAB-18-003+Unsigned.pdf" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/%24File/EPA-SAB-18-003%2BUnsigned.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAEegQIARAC" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/$File/EPA-SAB-18-003+Unsigned.pdf" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/%24File/EPA-SAB-18-003%2BUnsigned.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAEegQIARAC" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/$File/EPA-SAB-18-003+Unsigned.pdf" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/%24File/EPA-SAB-18-003%2BUnsigned.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAEegQIARAC" style="cursor: pointer; 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text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/$File/EPA-SAB-18-003+Unsigned.pdf" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/%24File/EPA-SAB-18-003%2BUnsigned.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAEegQIARAC" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/$File/EPA-SAB-18-003+Unsigned.pdf" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/%24File/EPA-SAB-18-003%2BUnsigned.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAEegQIARAC" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/$File/EPA-SAB-18-003+Unsigned.pdf" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/%24File/EPA-SAB-18-003%2BUnsigned.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAEegQIARAC" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/$File/EPA-SAB-18-003+Unsigned.pdf" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/%24File/EPA-SAB-18-003%2BUnsigned.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAEegQIARAC" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/$File/EPA-SAB-18-003+Unsigned.pdf" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/%24File/EPA-SAB-18-003%2BUnsigned.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAEegQIARAC" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/$File/EPA-SAB-18-003+Unsigned.pdf" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/%24File/EPA-SAB-18-003%2BUnsigned.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAEegQIARAC" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/$File/EPA-SAB-18-003+Unsigned.pdf" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/%24File/EPA-SAB-18-003%2BUnsigned.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAEegQIARAC" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">June 28, 2018 EPA-SAB-18-003 The Honorable E. Scott Pruitt ...</a></div></h3>
<div class="TbwUpd" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.57; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 1px;"><cite class="iUh30" style="font-style: normal; padding-top: 1px; line-height: 1.5;">https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.../EPA-SAB-18-003+Unsigned.pdf</cite></div><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; position: relative; margin: 1px 3px 0px; user-select: none; vertical-align: middle;"><a class="GHDvEf ab_button" href="https://www.google.com/search?ei=w5ZcXZihF8eMsQXhybXAAw&q=john+graham+SAB+&oq=john+graham+SAB+&gs_l=psy-ab.3...119493.123363..124732...0.0..0.305.1904.0j7j2j1......0....1..gws-wiz.......33i160.86Ld6openUM&ved=0ahUKEwjYjtvb4JLkAhVHRqwKHeFkDTgQ4dUDCAo&uact=5#" id="am-b4" aria-label="Result Options" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" role="button" jsaction="m.tdd;keydown:m.hbke;keypress:m.mskpe" data-ved="2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQ7B0wBHoECAEQAw" style="border-radius: 0px; cursor: default; font-weight: bold; height: 12px; line-height: 27px; margin: 1px 0px 2px; min-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; transition: none 0s ease 0s; user-select: none; background-image: none; border: 0px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 0px 0px; filter: none; width: 13px; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline-block;"><span class="mn-dwn-arw" style="border-color: rgb(0, 102, 33) transparent; border-style: solid; border-width: 5px 4px 0px; width: 0px; height: 0px; margin-left: 3px; top: 7.5px; margin-top: -4px; position: absolute; left: 0px;" /></a><div class="action-menu-panel ab_dropdown" role="menu" tabindex="-1" jsaction="keydown:m.hdke;mouseover:m.hdhne;mouseout:m.hdhue" data-ved="2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQqR8wBHoECAEQBA" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; top: 12px; white-space: nowrap; z-index: 3; transition: opacity 0.218s ease 0s; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 2px 4px; left: 0px; visibility: hidden;"><ol style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:R6AklCZ2gcsJ:https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/%24File/EPA-SAB-18-003%2BUnsigned.pdf+&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:R6AklCZ2gcsJ:https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/%2524File/EPA-SAB-18-003%252BUnsigned.pdf%2B%26cd%3D5%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQIDAEegQIARAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></li></ol></div></div></div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.57;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:R6AklCZ2gcsJ:https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/%24File/EPA-SAB-18-003%2BUnsigned.pdf+&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:R6AklCZ2gcsJ:https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/LookupWebReportsLastMonthBOARD/4ECB44CA28936083852582BB004ADE54/%2524File/EPA-SAB-18-003%252BUnsigned.pdf%2B%26cd%3D5%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQIDAEegQIARAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.57; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span class="f" style="line-height: 1.57;">Jun 28, 2018 - </span>Subject: Science Advisory Board (<span style="font-weight: bold;">SAB</span>) Consideration of EPA .... Dr. <span style="font-weight: bold;">John</span> D. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Graham</span>, Dean, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, ...</span></a></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 27px;"><div data-hveid="CAYQAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFSgAMAV6BAgGEAA"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><div class="r" style="margin: 0px; line-height: 1.57;"><a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-sass/trump-pruitt-epa-vets-industry-anti-scientists-sab" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-sass/trump-pruitt-epa-vets-industry-anti-scientists-sab&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAFegQIBhAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><h3 class="LC20lb" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-flex; max-width: 100%; line-height: 1.3;"><a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-sass/trump-pruitt-epa-vets-industry-anti-scientists-sab" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-sass/trump-pruitt-epa-vets-industry-anti-scientists-sab&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAFegQIBhAB" style="cursor: pointer; 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text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-sass/trump-pruitt-epa-vets-industry-anti-scientists-sab" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-sass/trump-pruitt-epa-vets-industry-anti-scientists-sab&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAFegQIBhAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-sass/trump-pruitt-epa-vets-industry-anti-scientists-sab" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-sass/trump-pruitt-epa-vets-industry-anti-scientists-sab&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAFegQIBhAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-sass/trump-pruitt-epa-vets-industry-anti-scientists-sab" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-sass/trump-pruitt-epa-vets-industry-anti-scientists-sab&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAFegQIBhAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-sass/trump-pruitt-epa-vets-industry-anti-scientists-sab" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-sass/trump-pruitt-epa-vets-industry-anti-scientists-sab&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAFegQIBhAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-sass/trump-pruitt-epa-vets-industry-anti-scientists-sab" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-sass/trump-pruitt-epa-vets-industry-anti-scientists-sab&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAFegQIBhAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-sass/trump-pruitt-epa-vets-industry-anti-scientists-sab" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-sass/trump-pruitt-epa-vets-industry-anti-scientists-sab&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAFegQIBhAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-sass/trump-pruitt-epa-vets-industry-anti-scientists-sab" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-sass/trump-pruitt-epa-vets-industry-anti-scientists-sab&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQFjAFegQIBhAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Trump-Pruitt EPA Vets Industry Anti-Scientists for SAB | NRDC</a></div></h3>
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line-height: 1.57;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:cnNX0fOJ_uoJ:https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-sass/trump-pruitt-epa-vets-industry-anti-scientists-sab+&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:cnNX0fOJ_uoJ:https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-sass/trump-pruitt-epa-vets-industry-anti-scientists-sab%2B%26cd%3D6%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQIDAFegQIBhAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.57; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span class="f" style="line-height: 1.57;">Sep 28, 2017 - </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">John Graham</span> - Founding director of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis which was partially supported by tobacco, chemical, pharma and ...</span></a></div></div></div></div></div><div><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:cnNX0fOJ_uoJ:https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-sass/trump-pruitt-epa-vets-industry-anti-scientists-sab+&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:cnNX0fOJ_uoJ:https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-sass/trump-pruitt-epa-vets-industry-anti-scientists-sab%2B%26cd%3D6%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwj5iJeY4ZLkAhVBUKwKHYj1CyoQIDAFegQIBhAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; 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