What does the EPA science panel getting overhauled under Trump actually do?.
Multiple reports have now rolled in that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has decided to overhaul the 18-member Board of Scientific Counselors, an independent panel that works with the agency’s scientific research arm to develop priorities and ensure accuracy.
EPA administration downplayed the move as a routine part of changing presidential administrations and said the scientist could reapply for their positions.
“We are concerned about news that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has dismissed scientists serving on its Board of Scientific Counselors,” Rush Holt, chief executive officer of AAAS, said in a statement.
What does this board do exactly?
Formed in 1996, the panel of scientific advisors works specifically with EPA’s Office of Research and Development.
Critics of the administration fear that Pruitt’s team will replace the ousted board members with scientists from the private sector who will be hostile to government regulation on industry.
He has also publicly challenged the accept science on climate change.
This news comes after Republicans in Congress have tried to limit who can serve on another scientific advisory board at EPA, the 47-member Science Advisory Board.
Trump has called for slashing funding for the panel by 84 percent.