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Janet G. McCabe, professor of practice at IU McKinney Law, co-authored an op-ed piece in The New York Times, “Scott Pruitt’s Attack on Science Would Paralyze the E.P.A.”

The article took issue with Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, for announcing last week that he would no longer allow the agency to use studies that include nonpublic scientific data to develop rules to safeguard public health and prevent pollution.

Professor McCabe, a former acting assistant administrator at the E.P.A., co-authored the New York Times op-ed with Gina McCarthy, who was the E.P.A. administrator from 2013 to 2017. She spoke at an IU McKinney program in January.

“Opponents of the agency and of mainstream climate science call these studies “secret science.” But that’s simply not true. Peer review ensures that the analytic methodologies underlying studies funded by the agency are sound.

"Some of those studies, particularly those that determine the effects of exposure to chemicals and pollution on health, rely on medical records that by law are confidential because of patient privacy policies. These studies summarize the analysis of raw data and draw conclusions based on that analysis. Other government agencies also use studies like these to develop policy and regulations, and to buttress and defend rules against legal challenges. They are, in fact, essential to making sound public policy,” the authors said.

Read the piece here.

In addition to teaching at the law school, Professor McCabe is also Assistant Director for Policy and Implementation at IU’s Environmental Resilience Institute.

She is also a Senior Law Fellow with the Environmental Law and Policy Center. From July 2013 through January 2017, Janet McCabe was the acting assistant administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation at the United States Environmental Protection Agency and was nominated by President Barack Obama to be Assistant Administrator of that office.