The Biden administration has been purging Trump officials, and they aren’t playing around. The Washington Post reports that more than 40 outside experts appointed to the EPA’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) and Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) during the Trump administration are being dismissed.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan said this move would help restore the role of science at the agency and reduce industry’s heavy influence over environmental regulations, according to the report.
“Scientific integrity is one of EPA’s foundational values – and as Administrator, I am committed to ensuring that every decision we make meets rigorous scientific standards,” Regan said in a statement. “Resetting these two scientific advisory committees will ensure the agency receives the best possible scientific insight to support our work to protect human health and the environment. Today we return to a time-tested, fair, and transparent process for soliciting membership to these critically important advisory bodies.”
The Washington Post reports that “The unusual decision, announced Wednesday, will sweep away outside researchers picked under the previous administration whose expert advice helped the agency craft regulations related to air pollution, fracking and other issues.”
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“Critics say that under Trump, membership of the two panels — the EPA’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) and Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) — tilted too heavily toward regulated industries and their positions sometimes contradicted scientific consensus,” the outlet reports.
Biden is now the “you’re fired” president after taking the helm from an inadequate leader.
Biden fired Trump-appointed National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Peter Robb in January after refusing to step down from his position. He then did it again with Trump-appointed general counsel for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Sharon Gustafson, after refusing to resign from her role. Recently, Biden administration Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas fired nearly the entire Homeland Security Advisory Council as part of his effort to “reconstitute” the panel, including allies for the former president.
Donald Trump, a science-denier, completely bunged the coronavirus pandemic by not listening to the experts, and the former president’s picks for certain posts raised eyebrows. Biden hit the ground running to battle the coronavirus.
Regan, who previously served as North Carolina’s top environmental regulator since 2017, will help lead Biden’s efforts to address climate change and advocate for environmental justice. He’s the first Black man to head the EPA.
Additionally, in a pledge to put science above politics, Regan will look back through four years of environmental policies and decisions made by the Trump administration to see where scientific data may have been manipulated or intentionally suppressed, NBC reports.
Featured image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr, under Creative Commons license 2.0
