[THS] Hundreds of EPA Scientists Report Political Interference

[Peter Webster]

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/042408L.shtml

Hundreds of EPA Scientists Report Political Interference
    By Judy Pasternak
    The Los Angeles Times

    Thursday 24 April 2008

    An official with the independent group that conducted the survey
says it indicates the widespread nature of the problem.

    Washington - More than half of the scientists at the Environmental
Protection Agency who responded to a survey said they had
experienced political interference in their work.

    The survey results show "an agency under siege from political
pressures," said the Union of Concerned Scientists report, which was
released Wednesday and sent to EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson.

    The online questionnaire was sent to 5,419 EPA scientists last
summer; 1,586 replied, and of those, 889 reported that they had
experienced at least one type of interference within the last five years.

    Such allegations are not new: During much of the Bush
administration, there have been reports of the White House watering
down documents on climate change, industry language inserted into
EPA power-plant regulations and scientific advisory panels' conclusions
about toxic chemicals going unheeded.

    But Francesca Grifo, director of the scientific integrity program for
the Union of Concerned Scientists, a Washington-based nonprofit
group, said the survey documented the widespread nature of the
problem at the EPA. "What we've been up against until now is
anecdotal evidence," Grifo said.

    She acknowledged that scientists who were frustrated or upset might
have been more likely than those who were satisfied to respond to her
organization's survey, but added: "Nearly 900 EPA scientists reported
political interference in their scientific work. That's 900 too many."

    EPA spokesman Jonathan Shradar noted that administrator Johnson
had had a 27-year career as a scientist himself.

    "We have the best and finest scientific community in the world at
EPA," Shradar said. "All of the issues we deal with are issues that we all
are very passionate about. It's important that we let the scientists do the
science and allow policymakers to do the policy work."

    The survey respondents were split over the impact of political
interference on regulations. According to the report, 48% believed that
the EPA's actions were "frequently or always" consistent with scientific
findings, and 47% believed that agency policy "occasionally, seldom or
never" made use of scientific judgments.

    In optional essays, scientists repeatedly singled out the Office of
Management and Budget at the White House, accusing officials there of
inserting themselves into decision-making at early stages in a way that
shaped the outcome of their inquiries. They also alleged that the OMB
delayed rules not to its liking. EPA actions "are held hostage" until
changes are made, a scientist from the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation
wrote.

    Some also accused members of Congress of inappropriate
intervention.

    All of the respondents remained anonymous.

    J. William Hirzy, an EPA senior scientist and union official, said that
politics trumped science at times during the Clinton administration as
well but that "what we're seeing now is . . . the favoring of energy
interests, coal-fired power plants. That's something different in this
administration."

    Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills) wrote to Johnson on
Wednesday asking him to be prepared to respond to the findings at a
hearing next month of the House Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform.

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