NRDC: House GOP Continues Its Anti-Science Campaign

WASHINGTON–(ENEWSPF)–November 19, 2014—House Republicans continued their attack on science-based protections for public health and the environment today, passing on a largely party-line vote a bill that would bar the Environmental Protection Agency from using certain peer-reviewed health research when developing standards to protect public health.

Scott Slesinger, legislative director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, made the following statement:

“The bill would deny EPA the ability to rely upon peer-reviewed medical studies that involve commitments to patient confidentiality when the agency carries out its statutory responsibilities to safeguard public health and the environment.  This is a backdoor way to make it harder to protect the public from toxic threats and should not stand.”

The action came a day after a similarly partisan House vote on another anti-science bill that would put more pro-industry representatives on EPA’s independent Science Advisory Board and make other changes that would compromise the board’s scientific integrity and independence. The White House has threatened to veto both bills.

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 1.4 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world’s natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.