EPA fires members of science advisory board
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fired members of a scientific advisory board yesterday.
The agency quietly forced out some members of the Board of Scientific Counselors just weeks after leaders told them their tenure would be renewed, said Robert Richardson, an ecological economist at Michigan State University and one of those dismissed.
The board is tasked with reviewing the work of EPA scientists and provides feedback that can be a powerful voice in shaping the agency's future research. The cuts "just came out of nowhere," Richardson said.
"The role that science has played in the agency in the past, this step is a significant step in a different direction," he said today. "Anecdotally, based on what we know about the administrator, I think it will be science that will appear to be friendlier to industry, the fossil fuel industry, the chemical industry, and I think it will be science that marginalizes climate change science."
EPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.There are two main science advisory boards at EPA, both of which can hold significant sway over policy and regulation. The Trump administration has proposed a major weakening of both.
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/05/epa-fires-members-science-advisory-board
In summary , Trump is firing Scientists and replacing them with people from industry.