From the Wash Post: Judge throws out Trump rule limiting what science EPA can use. ” Biden officials had asked the Montana federal judge to send back the Environmental Protection Agency rule limiting studies behind public health safeguards. ‘
An excerpt: The Biden administration is “pleased” with the ruling, said EPA spokeswoman Lindsay Hamilton, adding, “EPA is committed to making evidence-based decisions and developing policies and programs that are guided by the best science.”
An excerpt:
As is usual, I’m afraid, WaPo takes a simplistically biased view of a more complex issue. Too often in the past, EPA rules were made on the basis of studies using data not available to the public yet paid for by the public. In effect, the authors of the studies were saying “Trust us (and thanks for the funding).” Trust in individuals is not part of the scientific method. Trusting these sort-of scientists to make regulations costing millions of dollars or more is far from “following the science.” While I respect the desire to maintain the privacy of individuals, I have yet to see one of these studies in which individual identities could not be scrubbed. More work – sure. But, I think necessary if they are to have such large impacts on the public that paid for them.