Last Friday five scientists were fired from the EPA Board of Scientific Counsellors. The 18-member board analyzes EPA research in order to set energy policy and regulation.

EPA chief Scott Pruitt indicated that the firings were an intentional strategy to realign the massive, bloated agency.

“The administration believes we should have people on this board who understand the impact of regulations on the regulated community.”

President Trump has been open about his desire to reduce the near unlimited power of the EPA and the control an unelected body of bureaucrats over American homes and businesses.

As a result, he has been accused of being a “science denier” by the crowd that wants us all to believe that gender is all in the mind.

Conservatives and Republican politicians have long been opposed to allowing scientists who depend on lucrative government research grants to analyze research and dictate energy policy. The EPA board has often been accused of “massaging” results to maximize grant access and the public funds available.

This is not the first move the EPA has made toward deregulation since Trump’s election. They recently reversed a ban on chlorpyrifos, a common and effective pesticide used by farmers. The Obama administration originally proposed the ban in 2015, but upon his appointment chief Scott Pruitt decided not to enact the ban, citing lack of compelling evidence of it’s dangers and the negative impact the ban would have on agricultural producers.