Free Republic

WASHINGTON — Two of Texas’ most prominent members of Congress squared off moments ago on the House floor as members prepare to vote on a bill Republicans say will end the EPA’s reliance on scientific studies whose data aren’t fully available to the public. The Secret Science Reform Act of 2014 would require the Environmental Protection Agency to base its rules only on scientific studies whose data can be shared in sufficient details that other researchers can duplicate the research. A vote is expected within the hour, and this post will be updated with its results. The bill, should it...

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has still not complied with a subpoena issued August 1, 2013 by the House Science, Space and Technology Committee seeking the scientific foundation of virtually every Clean Air Act regulation the agency has issued. The subpoena demanded that EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy hand over data from two decades-old taxpayer-funded studies as the agency moves towards the adoption of strict new ozone standards that could cost the U.S. economy $90 billion annually—which would make them the most expensive regulations in U.S. history. The subpoenaed data is cited as the scientific basis for EPA’s claim that microscopic...