Stephan: I have warned you that it would take months and maybe years to flush out the little orcs with whom the Trump administration consciously and deliberately peopled the federal regulatory agencies, and such is proving to be the case. We can already see this in the Department of Justice, where Merrick Garland is proving to be a disappointment. Now it has become apparent in the Environmental Protection Agency. Although I support what the Democrats are doing, I find them rather flaccid and unfocused. We will see what the next months bring, but a more purposed aggressive effort is called for in my view.
Thousands participate in the National March for Science in Philadelphia, PA, on Earth Day, April 22, 2017. Similar events were held around the nation protesting the Trump administration’s cover-up of scientific data regarding the climate crisis. According to an official complaint to the EPA’s inspector general, officials at the agency have interfered with reports on chemical toxicity, Credit: Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto/Getty
Four scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency are alleging that the “war on science” is continuing under the Biden administration, with managers at the agency altering reports about the risks posed by chemicals and retaliating against employees who report the misconduct.
The government watchdog Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) filed a formal complaint Friday on behalf of the scientists with the EPA’s Office of the Inspector General, calling for an investigation into reports that high-level employees routinely delete crucial information from chemical risk assessments or change the documents’ conclusions to give the impression that the chemicals in question are not toxic.
“These alterations of risk assessments are not just artifacts of the Trump administration; they are continuing on a weekly basis.” —Kyla Bennett, PEER
This type of corruption is endemic to the agency and has been occurring for years. It is a feature not a bug. For more information Sharon Lerner wrote a long piece on EPA duplicity, for those with the stomach for it. She calls EPA The Department of Yes:
Himself, who’s name will not be mentioned, has brought focus to the corruption that existed prior to his coronation. Now we see that the Dems while marginally better are also complicit in the corporate take over of government. I was hoping for a little more pitchforks and torches in the renewing and building back better but maybe the institutional corruption is too deep. Then of course we must pursue this in a “bipartisan” manner…
This type of corruption is endemic to the agency and has been occurring for years. It is a feature not a bug. For more information Sharon Lerner wrote a long piece on EPA duplicity, for those with the stomach for it. She calls EPA The Department of Yes:
~https://theintercept.com/2021/06/30/epa-pesticides-exposure-opp/
Himself, who’s name will not be mentioned, has brought focus to the corruption that existed prior to his coronation. Now we see that the Dems while marginally better are also complicit in the corporate take over of government. I was hoping for a little more pitchforks and torches in the renewing and building back better but maybe the institutional corruption is too deep. Then of course we must pursue this in a “bipartisan” manner…