From (my comments at the end)
https://electrek.co/2020/04/16/egeb-scientists-nrdc-court-win-epa/
The Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB): A daily technical, financial, and political review/analysis of important green energy news.
Quote
Science wins
Yesterday, a federal judge in New York invalidated an October 2017 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) directive from former EPA head Scott Pruitt. That directive led to the EPA removing many of the US’ top scientists from its roughly 23 advisory committees. Judge Denise Cote found that the EPA “failed to articulate any reason” or provide any evidentiary basis for its decision.
The lawsuit was filed by the international environmental organization the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The directive disqualified scientists who receive research grants from the EPA, mainly scientists from universities and other nonprofit institutions, on the groundless pretext that these scientists may be biased.
The EPA hypocritically allowed scientists, consultants, and others who work for or receive funding from the chemical and fossil-fuel industries to serve on the advisory committees.
NRDC attorney Vivian Wang said: “EPA should return to relying on science to protect people from dirty air, unsafe water, and toxic chemicals, and do it now.”
This was the 107th lawsuit that the NRDC has filed against Trump administration environmental rollbacks. The NRDC has won 60 of the 65 resolved cases to date.
Chris Zarba, former chair of the EPA Science Advisory Board, said:
This decision was clearly a victory for science. It will help ensure that some of the nation’s leading scientists will no longer be prohibited from advising EPA on how best to fulfill its mission to protect public health and safeguard the environment. However, there are a number of additional steps that need to be taken to ensure that EPA actions and decisions are based on the best available science.
Unquote
Looks like the Trump administration has been again stopped from “draining the swamp” by replacing the waters with toxic waste. The article said that out of 107 lawsuits, the NRDC has won 60 of the 65 lawsuits that have been resolved so far. This indicates to me that this administration has been repeatedly trying to do an end run around laws and policies that are in the best interests of the country and the world. That is absolutely shameful.
