House Republicans just passed a bill forbidding scientists from advising the EPA on their own resear

[applegrove]

House Republicans just passed a bill forbidding scientists from advising the EPA on their own research

by Lindsay Abrams at Salon

http://www.salon.com/2014/11/19/house_republicans_just_passed_a_bill_forbidding_scientists_from_advising_the_epa_on_their_own_research/

"SNIP.........................


H.R. 1422, which passed 229-191, would shake up the EPA’s Scientific Advisory Board, placing restrictions on those pesky scientists and creating room for experts with overt financial ties to the industries affected by EPA regulations.

The bill is being framed as a play for transparency: Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas, argued that the board’s current structure is problematic because it “excludes industry experts, but not officials for environmental advocacy groups.” The inclusion of industry experts, he said, would right this injustice.

But the White House, which threatened to veto the bill, said it would “negatively affect the appointment of experts and would weaken the scientific independence and integrity of the SAB.”

In what might be the most ridiculous aspect of the whole thing, the bill forbids scientific experts from participating in “advisory activities” that either directly or indirectly involve their own work. In case that wasn’t clear: experts would be forbidden from sharing their expertise in their own research — the bizarre assumption, apparently, being that having conducted peer-reviewed studies on a topic would constitute a conflict of interest. “In other words,” wrote Union of Concerned Scientists director Andrew A. Rosenberg in an editorial for RollCall, “academic scientists who know the most about a subject can’t weigh in, but experts paid by corporations who want to block regulations can.”


..........................SNIP"

[louis-t]

1. Why do repugs hate science?

Because anybody knows Ted Cruz and the CEO at Dow Chemical know more about science than any scientist.

[Ruby the Liberal]

2. What in blue hell?

They are there to regulate you assholes, not partner on maximizing profits. That's the job of the banks.

[JeffHead]

3. Obama better make sure his veto pen is full of ink....

if this is the kind of shit bills they are going to throw at him. Its gonna be a long 2 years.

[Frustratedlady]

4. Well, they've had plenty of time. They sure as hell weren't working at their jobs.

The good side of this is that the bills have got to give Obama a good chuckle. The Repugs are showing their lack of intelligence. Maybe now, the citizens will begin to see what we've been witnessing for quite a number of years.

[Thor_MN]

5. Repubs have a false equivalence thing going.

Environmental Scientists are paid to study and protect the environment. Corporate hacks are paid to generate profits for the corporation. See how those two are exactly the same? They are both getting paid!!!

[applegrove]

6. It is more than that. Psychopaths often do a 180 degree tell where they project their

feelings and actions on their victim. In this case it is the GOP who will do anything for money/power. Scientists are the first people to admit they don't have all the answers and come up with hypothesis which they test again and again. They discard much. They only keep what proves beyond a doubt to be true. The GOP, like psychopaths, always claim they have the perfect information as they roll along making up fiction to fit the desired outcome they want. The two do not belong in the same buildings let alone any political equivalency.

[L0oniX]

7. H.R. 1422 alternate: the See No Evil bill.

[VanillaRhapsody]

8. they are going back to their old tactics of sneaking things into innocuous bills....

that make it harder to veto

[C_U_L8R]

9. I want to see our President's veto pen...

I hope its a big honkin' rubber stamp
that says HELL NO !

[sadoldgirl]

10. And let us hope

that the filibuster does not only stay in place, but will be used well too.