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Dravis, Samantha[dravis.samantha@epa.gov] POLITICO Pro Energy Whiteboard Tue 10/31/2017 12:56:53 PM Pruitt to replace science advisers with industry, state officials
By Emily Holden
10/31/2017 08:56 AM EDT
EPA administrator Scott Pruitt is expected to dismiss science advisers who have received agency grants and replace them with representatives of the fossil fuel and chemical industries and a handful of mostly Republican state environment officials, according to a list obtained by an advocacy group.
Pruitt has said he wants to eliminate conflicts of interest among the scientists who provide advice to the administrator, but critics and former EPA officials have blasted his plans as an attack on science.
Among the potential appointments to the chartered Science Advisory Board and Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee are employees of the oil companies Total and Phillips 66, as well as the utility Southern Co. and the chemical lobbying group the American Chemistry Council.
The list also includes a researcher from NERA Economic Consulting, an industry-contracted firm whose estimates of the costs of the Paris climate agreement President Donald Trump cited when he moved to exit the deal. The document also lists Michael Honeycutt, head of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's toxicology division, who the Washington Post noted yesterday has questioned the health risks associated with smog.
Pruitt will not renew any members whose terms expired at the end of September. He also will cut short the service of scientists who have received EPA research grants, the list shows.
Terry F. Yosie, who directed the SAB under President Ronald Reagan and is now president of the World Environment Center, said in an email that the move represents a "major purge of independent scientists."
Pruitt is scheduled to announce the changes at 2 p.m. EPA did not respond to queries.
To view online'. https://www.politicopro.com/energy/whiteboard/201 7/10/nruitt-to-replace-science-advisers-withindustry-state-officials-094962
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Sierra Club v. EPA, 1:17-cv-01906
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Sierra Club v. EPA, 1:17-cv-01906
ED_001523_00006024-00002