Trump Wants to Cut EPAs Scientific Research in Half

[babylonsister]

Trump Wants to Cut EPA’s Scientific Research in Half
Ex-EPA staffers are fighting back against the president’s budget proposal.

Rebecca Leber
Jun. 12, 2017 4:12 PM



President Donald Trump’s budget proposal would slash the Environmental Protection Agency’s scientific research programs by nearly half, according to a new report prepared by former EPA staffers.

The newly formed Environmental Protection Network is a coalition made up of retired employees from Republican and Democratic administrations, many of whom have had decades of experience running the day-to-day work at the agency. And on Monday, this group of lawyers, scientists, and policy wonks released an analysis of the White House budget ahead of congressional testimony that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is set to deliver on Thursday. The hearing will be the first time that Pruitt will have to defend the dramatic cuts the administration has proposed for the agency.

Science is supposed to be the basis for nearly everything the EPA does. For example, the Clean Air Act requires the agency to propose and enforce air, water, and climate regulations that adhere to the best available science. Under that law, the EPA found that climate change endangers human health and enacted the Obama administration’s signature regulations on carbon emissions—regulations that the Trump administration is working to undo.

So what if science initiatives are severely underfunded? For the EPA, carrying out even its basic functions will become much more difficult.

Trump’s budget slashes the EPA’s main science programs by 47 percent, according to the former staffers’ analysis. “This area would be the most severely cut, contrary to verbiage in the Budget document acknowledging the important role of science in carrying out EPA’s regulatory, permitting and enforcement responsibilities,” says the report. “The damage is not only to EPA but to scientists across the country.” The budget includes an additional 7.9 percent cut to the Science Advisory Board, which provides expert guidance on the science that underlies EPA rulemaking.

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http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/06/trump-wants-to-cut-epas-scientific-research-in-half/

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. Another twofer, kill us and make money for Wall Street.