The president isn’t going to sign this into law, but the House continues to wage its own private war on the EPA and science.
The House voted 229-191 to pass H.R. 1422, which would change the rules for appointing members to the Science Advisory Board (SAB), a group that gives scientific advice to the EPA Administrator. Also called the Science Advisory Board Reform Act, the bill would make it easier for scientists with financial ties to corporations to serve on the SAB, prohibit independent scientists from talking about their own research on the board, and make it more difficult for scientists who have applied for grants from the EPA to join the board.
The party of independence and personal responsibility has a problem with independent scientists who conduct their own research, but no problem with corporate scientists with conflicts of interest.
Expect a whole lot more of this over the next two years as Congress is turned into a campaign platform.