Pruitt guts EPA science panels will appoint new members
Pruitt
In announcing the changes   EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt  suggested many previously appointed to the panels were potentially biased because they had received federal research grants. The 22 boards advise EPA on a wide range of issues  including drinking water standards and pesticide safety.
"Whatever science comes out of EPA shouldn't be political science " said  Pruitt   a Republican lawyer who previously served as the attorney general of Oklahoma. "From this day forward  EPA advisory committee members will be financially independent from the agency."
 Pruitt  has expressed skepticism about the consensus of climate scientists that man-made carbon emissions are the primary cause of global warming.  He  also overruled experts that had recommended pulling a top-selling pesticide from the market after peer-reviewed studies showed it damaged children's brains.
 Pruitt  said  he  will name new leadership and members to three key EPA advisory boards soon â the Science Advisory Board  Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee  and the Board of Scientific Counselors.
As part of his directive   Pruitt  said  he  will bar appointees who currently are in receipt of EPA grants or who are in a position to benefit such grants.  He  exempted people who work at state  local or tribal agencies  saying  he  wants to introduce more "geographic diversity" to the panels.
The five-page policy  Pruitt  issued Tuesday makes no mention of other potential conflicts of interest  such as accepting research funding from corporate interests regulated by EPA.
Tuesday's announcement comes after  Pruitt  in May said  he  would not reappoint nine of the 18 members of the Board of Scientific Counselors to serve a second three-year term  as had been customary.
"It obviously stacks the deck against scientists who do not represent corporate special interests " said Swackhamer  a retired professor who taught environmental health sciences at the University of Minnesota. "It speaks volumes that people funded by special interests are OK to be advisers  but not those who have received federal grants. "
Senate Environment Committee Chairman John Barrasso  a Wyoming Republican who shares Pruitt's skepticism of mainstream climate science   cheered the move.  He  said EPA's science boards would now better reflect the views of rural states like  his  own.
But environmentalists worried that  Pruitt  will now select board members with financial ties to the fossil fuel and chemical industries.
"The Trump EPA's continued attack on science will likely be one of the most lasting and damaging legacies of this administration " said Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico  the ranking Democrat on the appropriations subcommittee that approves EPA's funding. " Pruitt  is purging expert scientists from  his  science boards â and replacing them with mouthpieces for big polluters."
In announcing the changes   EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt  suggested many previously appointed to the panels were potentially biased because they had received federal research grants. The 22 boards advise EPA on a wide range of issues  including drinking water standards and pesticide safety.
"Whatever science comes out of EPA shouldn't be political science " said   [TGT] . "From this day forward  EPA advisory committee members will be financially independent from the agency. [TGT] 
has expressed skepticism about the consensus of climate scientists that man-made carbon emissions are the primary cause of global warming.   [TGT]   also overruled experts that had recommended pulling a top-selling pesticide from the market after peer-reviewed studies showed it damaged children's brains.
  [TGT] said   [TGT]   will name new leadership and members to three key EPA advisory boards soon â the Science Advisory Board  Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee  and the Board of Scientific Counselors.
As part of his directive    [TGT] said   [TGT]   will bar appointees who currently are in receipt of EPA grants or who are in a position to benefit such grants.   [TGT]   exempted people who work at state  local or tribal agencies  saying   [TGT]   wants to introduce more "geographic diversity" to the panels.
The five-page policy   [TGT] issued Tuesday makes no mention of other potential conflicts of interest  such as accepting research funding from corporate interests regulated by EPA.
Tuesday's announcement comes after   [TGT]  said   [TGT]   would not reappoint nine of the 18 members of the Board of Scientific Counselors to serve a second three-year term  as had been customary.
"It obviously stacks the deck against scientists who do not represent corporate special interests " said Swackhamer  a retired professor who taught environmental health sciences at the University of Minnesota. "It speaks volumes that people funded by special interests are OK to be advisers  but not those who have received federal grants.  [TGT] 
cheered the move.   [TGT]   said EPA's science boards would now better reflect the views of rural states like   [TGT]   own.
But environmentalists worried that   [TGT] will now select board members with financial ties to the fossil fuel and chemical industries.
"The Trump EPA's continued attack on science will likely be one of the most lasting and damaging legacies of this administration " said Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico  the ranking Democrat on the appropriations subcommittee that approves EPA's funding. "  [TGT] is purging expert scientists from   [TGT]   science boards â and replacing them with mouthpieces for big polluters."