WIKIMEDIA, GAGE SKIDMOREThis week (March 29), the US House of Representatives passed the Honest and Open New EPA Science Treatment Act, or HONEST Act, with a vote of 228-194. The Act would restrict the science considered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) when developing new regulations, to only research that is publicly available.
This may sound like a positive push for transparency—“this legislation ensures that sound science is the basis for EPA decisions and regulatory actions,” Representative Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chairman of the House science committee, told his fellow representatives this week (via The Hill). But it may actually limit the EPA’s ability to enact evidence-based regulations. “Democrats, environmentalists and health advocates say the HONEST Act is intended to handcuff the EPA,” The Hill reported.
“In reality, this bill isn’t about science,” Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), the science committee’s top Democrat, told the House (via The Hill). “It’s about undermining public health and the environment.”
“The so-called ‘HONEST Act’ is a Trojan-horse transparency bill that, among other things, would make it harder for the EPA to use ...
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