EPA: We Report, You Decide

[Guest guest]

EPA: We Report, You Decide

by Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles*

Business & Politics

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/07/epa_we_report.php

Now we don't mean to come off as cynics here at TreeHugger, but

given the EPA's " commendable " record in the past few years, we

couldn't exactly let this little nugget slide:

" The Environmental Protection Agency has failed to provide adequate

information for the public to discern whether conflicts of interest

exist for more than half of its recently unveiled short list of 55

experts for a special panel that will reevaluate the health risks of

particulate matter air pollution. "

This doesn't necessarily mean that foul play is afoot, of course,

but just check out the following short biography of UCI professor

Phalen:

" ...University of California at Irvine Professor of Community and

Environmental Medicine Phalen, who has written a book

questioning the link between particulate air pollution and adverse

health effects and arguing that tighter air pollution standards are

premature, has received research funding from the Southern

California Edison Company and the Electric Power Research Institute

(EPRI), the research arm of the utility industry "

Yes, it's true that the EPA's announcement did reveal that 11 of the

nominees worked for or received funding from the Health Effects

Institute, but what wasn't disclosed was the fact that this

organization gets half of its budget from the automobile industry.

But I guess we shouldn't be too critical: the EPA did also reveal

the industry affiliations of 5 candidates (that's 5 out of 55) who

received some form of compensation from EPRI or member companies of

the American Chemistry Council.

Again, we don't want to suggest that the resulting panel will be

biased or flawed because of the choice of candidates presented, but

we do feel strongly that disclosure should be at the center of

anything the government sponsors (not just the EPA necessarily) so

that the public can feel confident that it has all the information

it needs before forming an opinion on such an important issue.

Trust and transparency should form the basis for any interaction

between the government and the public. We'd expect the same from

candidates receiving funding from NGOs or companies in favor of

combating global climate change so don't think this is just a one-

way road.

Via ::Integrity in Science Watch: EPA Short List Long on Candidates,

Short on Disclosure (website), ::Wired: EPA Silent on Air Pollution

Experts' Conflicts of Interest (blog)

See also: ::EPA Closing Libraries, Destroying Scientific

Documents, ::EPA Carson Contest