EPA Sees Science As Obstacle To Regulation

Flopping Aces ^ | 09-08-11 | Warren Beatty

[Starman417]

The EPA: Politics Ahead of Science

The EPA writes and enforces its regulations that are based on laws passed by the Congress. The EPA administrator (currently Lisa P. Jackson) is appointed by the president and approved by Congress.

The author of this cited report, Mark R. Powell, is an American Association for the Advancement of Science Risk Fellow with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The report makes it abundantly clear that EPA puts its regulatory role ahead of science. As Powell correctly notes, the main impediment to research at the EPA is that it is first and foremost a regulatory agency: "EPA's primary constituencies tend - with some justification - to view science and analysis as an obstacle to regulatory action." Science often has little to do with how a decision is made: "EPA for a variety of reasons is unwilling, unable, and unequipped to address and acknowledge the uncertainties in the underlying science."   [emphasis mine]

From this source, we get this quote: "This announcement is more of the same from an administration that cares about political science more than independent science. Furthermore, the decision sidelines science at a time when the EPA is actively considering revising standards meant to protect the public's health from lead and ozone pollution. The EPA's announcement means the best available science will now be watered down by politics, and the public's health will suffer as a result."

Here is another source and another quote: "In a stunning act of political kowtowing, the EPA caved to special interest groups and politics and declared CO₂ a 'dangerous pollutant', even though it is part of the natural cycle of life."

This source says that the EPA puts its ideology ahead of common sense: The Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (Lead RRP) regulation officially took effect on 22 Apr 10. The Lead RRP regulation is meant to protect pregnant women and children from exposure to unhealthy levels of lead paint. Even so, the rule illustrates how EPA is currently driven more by ideology and bureaucratic inefficiency than common sense. The rule requires that any renovation of any building built before 1978 affecting six or more square feet of paint must be overseen by a government-certified renovator and conducted by a government-certified renovation firm. Certification requires completion of an EPA-approved training course and payment of a fee to the agency. The rule applies to anybody - including painters, electricians, plumbers, and carpenters, plus general contractors and property owners - who "disturbs painting" in covered structures. But as of April 22, EPA had certified exactly 204 course trainers.

We can now see that the EPA is politically motivated, as the first two references illustrate, how it will cave into pressure from special interest groups, as the third reference illustrates, and places its ideology ahead of common sense, as the fourth source illustrates.

About Lisa P. Jackson, EPA Administrator

Lisa Perez Jackson is from the lower 9th ward in New Orleans, LA. She was introduced by President-elect Barack Obama at a Chicago news conference where the president-elect unveiled his energy and environmental team. In brief remarks, Jackson said, "At the top of the list is the threat of climate change, which requires us to transform how we produce and use energy throughout the economy." The Natural Resources Defense Council hailed Obama's choices and said the Jackson pick, "signals to the rest of the world that the United States will be a leader on global warming." "This is certainly a person who understands environmental justice and who has launched and initiated efforts to reduce pollution and therefore the cancer and health impacts in communities of color, " said Monique Harden, co-director of Advocates for Environmental Human Rights.

In an appearance before the USA TODAY editorial board, Lisa Jackson also said the agency will soon propose rules to cut greenhouse emissions from cars. "We will continue to move stepwise down the path toward regulation of greenhouse gases," Jackson said.

But not all are pleased with Jackson, who worked with the US EPA from 1987 to 2002. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a resource for government whistle-blowers, released a scathing press release calling Jackson's record "disastrous." The press release claims that Jackson neglected hazardous waste sites, failed to address rising air and water pollution, missed deadlines on meeting greenhouse-gas reduction targets, and became too cozy with industry.

[muawiyah]

At last, someone realizes EPA is a political institution.

Time to shut it down.

[oyez]

Perez Jackson turns from chemical engineer to political engineer.

I wonder if she is kin to the late Judge Leander Perez.