Tag: American Lung Association

Besieged EPA Chief still committed to Trump agenda

Susan Jaffe | Washington Correspondent for The Lancet | 8th May 2018

    At last count, at least four federal agencies were conducting nearly a dozen investigations of Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt, probing his office renovations, a round-the-clock security unit who accompanied him on a trip to Disneyland, personnel management, and first-class air travel. The Capitol Hill condo he rented at a bargain rate of only $50 a night from the wife of an energy industry lobbyist has also come under scrutiny.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt testifies at a congressional hearing April 26, 2018 (Getty Images).

But in separate hearings held by the congressional subcommittees that oversee EPA, Pruitt dismissed the investigations as politically motivated. 

“Those who attack the EPA and attack me are doing so because they want to attack and derail the president’s agenda and undermine this administration’s priorities,” Pruitt told the congressional panels two weeks ago. “I am simply not going to let that happen.”

…Republicans were eager to praise his achievements during the hearings, and encouraged him to keep at it. [Continued here] …

US health and science advocates gear up for battle over EPA

lancet cover 2Volume 389, Number  10075 

25  March 2017 

WORLD REPORT    The Trump administration’s proposed budget makes large cuts to the US Environmental Protection Agency.  Susan Jaffe, The Lancet’s Washington correspondent, reports. 

As Oklahoma Attorney General, Scott Pruitt represented his state in more than a dozen lawsuits challenging the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) efforts to limit air and water pollution. Several cases sought to block President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan aimed at reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from coal plants linked to climate change.

…Less than a year later, Pruitt and his opponents have switched sides. President Donald Trump appointed Pruitt to lead the EPA and now those opponents accuse the Trump administration of federal overreach by seeking to undermine key environmental laws.

The administration has already taken steps to begin rolling back some environmental rules issued by the EPA under President Barack Obama (panel). And last week, Trump unveiled his proposed federal budget, which reduces federal non-defence spending by US$54 billion, including a 31% ($2·6 billion) cut in EPA funding—more than any other domestic agency.  [Continued here] …

Republicans’ bills target science at US environment agency

lancet cover 2Volume 385, Issue 9974, 28 March 2015

 

WORLD REPORT      Proposed legislation would change how the US Environmental Protection Agency uses science to determine pollution limits. The Lancet‘s Washington correspondent Susan Jaffe reports.

Approval of two controversial environmental bills in the US House of Representatives last week was the latest assault in the Republicans’ “war on science”, according to Democrats. Republicans, however, considered it a big step towards assuring that federal environmental regulations are based on solid scientific research. Despite the sharp difference of opinion along political lines, both sides claim to pursue similar goals—to keep the agency responsible for protecting the nation’s health and environment impartial and closely guided by the best science.

…The Secret Science Reform Act of 2015 would prohibit the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from proposing or finalising any policy “unless all scientific and technical information” officials relied on is “the best available science” and is “publicly available online in a manner that is sufficient for independent analysis and substantial reproduction of research results”.

“The days of ‘trust me’ science are over”, the bill’s lead sponsor, Texas Republican Lamar Smith, told The Lancet. “The American people deserve to see the data.”   [Continued: full text or PDF ]…