The Trump administration’s move, similar to EPA’s ‘secret science’ effort, offers new ways for fossil fuel and other industries to challenge science-based policies.
Marianne Lavelle reports for Inside Climate
APR 25, 2019
President Donald Trump’s administration has launched yet another attempt to control the use of science in federal policymaking—this time with a memorandum to government agencies from the White House budget office.
This story has been updated with EPA’s response.
The memo, quietly released on Wednesday, appears aimed at putting into effect some long-sought goals of industry foes of environmental regulations.
Described as “guidance” for executive branch agencies, it offers numerous new avenues for regulated industries to challenge the science used in policymaking. The memo was signed by Russell Vought, a former top official at the political arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation who is now acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Observers say the OMB is seeking to implement by fiat restrictions on environmental and health science that have failed to garner support in Congress and have foundered in a formal rulemaking process begun last year by the Environmental Protection Agency.
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