News Archive
IU McKinney Law Professor McCabe Voices Concern about Role of Science
10/02/2018
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering downgrading an office that makes sure it uses the best science to make decisions, according to an October 1 report by Indiana Public Radio.
IU McKinney Law Professor of Practice Janet McCabe, a former EPA clean air administrator, says it is another move by the Trump administration to diminish the role of scientists.
The Office of the Science Advisor counsels the EPA administrator and makes sure all parts of the agency work off similar scientific conclusions. The EPA wants to merge the Office of the Science Advisor with the Office of Science Policy, which would give it less authority.
It is critical that someone representing sound scientific research has access to the administrator, says Professor McCabe, who is 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.
"This is one more step in a number of steps that this administration has taken that are very concerning with the respect to the role that they are giving to science," she says.
