Science under siege

While the news from Washington has been dominated by Brett Kavanaugh’s candidacy for the Supreme Court and how it will help cement Donald Trump’s legacy, the administration has been intensifying its attack on science and redoubling its efforts to dismantle regulations designed to protect health and the environment and tackle global warming. The legacy of that campaign could be much more toxic and longer-lasting than the outcome of the Kavanaugh hearings, and not just for the United States.

Presidential polluter: Donald Trump boarding Air Force One
for a trip to a fundraiser in Minnesota earlier this month. 

In the past two weeks alone, reports reveal fresh attacks on independent sources of advice. The Office of the Science Advisor to the Environmental Protection Agency seems set to be dissolved. This senior post offers advice to the EPA and its administrator on science underpinning health and environmental policies, regulations and decisions. The head of the EPA Office of Children’s Health, a respected paediatric epidemiologist, has been placed on unexplained administrative leave following reports that the incumbent has repeatedly clashed with administration officials bent on loosening pollution regulations. The disputes are reported to centre on the planned weakening of mercury emission rules, announced on 30 September, the administration’s failure to act on a recommendation by EPA scientists that the organophosphate insecticide chlorpyrifos be banned, and the proposal to dismantle programs that protect children from lead poisoning.

Read the story by Lesley Russell from Inside Story - “Science under siege.”

Top Trump officials signal US could stay in Paris climate agreement

Senior Trump administration officials on Sunday signalled a further softening of America’s resolve to leave the Paris climate accord, amid signs that the issue will be discussed at the United Nations general assembly in New York this week.

A demonstration against Trump’s decision to pull
out of the landmark climate change deal,
which the president announced in June.

Secretary of state Rex Tillerson and national security adviser HR McMaster both indicated that the US is open to negotiations on staying in the landmark international agreement to limit mankind’s role in global warming.

Donald Trump announced the withdrawal from the deal in June, leaving the US with only Syria and Nicaragua for company outside the global agreement. A US withdrawal from a deal made under the Obama administration was a Trump campaign pledge. The rules of the pact do not, however, allow the US to physically pull out until 2020.

Read The Guardian story by Joanna Walters - “Top Trump officials signal US could stay in Paris climate agreement.”

Trump team asks State Dept. what it spends on international environmental efforts

Secretary of State John F. Kerry walks
on a frozen section of the Ross Sea
near the McMurdo Station in Antarctica
 on November 12.

Donald Trump’s presidential transition team has asked State Department officials to disclose how much money it provides each year to international environmental groups. It’s the latest example of how the incoming administration is reassessing the U.S. government’s approach to tackling climate change and other environmental priorities.

As part of a list of questions posed last week to the department’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, according to multiple people familiar with the matter, the Trump landing team asked, “How much does the Department of State contribute annually to international environmental organizations in which the department participates?”

The individuals familiar with the request spoke on the condition of anonymity because transition communications are confidential.

It is unclear which specific groups the transition team was referring to in its question; a spokesman for the president-elect did not respond to a request for comment Monday night.

The State Department has worked aggressively under President Obama to support international initiatives to cut greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change, but Trump has vowed to pull back from such efforts.

Read The Washington Post story - “Trump team asks State Dept. what it spends on international environmental efforts.”

Commentary: Ivanka Trump could be the most powerful first lady ever

Ivanka Trump - the "First Daughter"
gives climate activists some hope.

Most climate activists around the world lament the rise of Donald Trump in becoming America’s president-elect.

They fear, rightly, for what impact he, and his administration, will have on world-wide efforts to mitigate and control climate change.

As dark and depressing as Trump may appear, there appears to be some glimmer of hope with his daughter, Ivanka, who seems somewhat more sensitive to the nation’s environmental concerns and by extension those of the world.

The Chicago Tribune muses here about First Ladies and First Daughters and the role they have played in past administrations.

Read the Chicago Tribune story – “Commentary: Ivanka Trump could be the most powerful first lady ever.”