Life at the current Environmental Protection Agency now resembles an episode of “The Apprentice”, the iconic reality show once hosted by President Donald Trump.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt once battled the agency he now leads and argued its scientists often failed to properly assess the fiscal impact relative to actual risk related to implementing new regulations on businesses. As a result of his leadership, half of the Science Advisory Board has been dismissed.

Deborah L. Swackhamer, chairwoman of the Board of Scientific Counselors, confirmed Monday that nine of the 18 outside experts on her panel will not serve a second three-year term. The affected board members’ terms expired April 30. Experts are limited to serving two terms on the board, and Swackhamer said that in the past those completing their first term would typically have been reappointed. Four other board members just completed their second terms, meaning 13 of the 18 seats on the panel are vacant. EPA spokesman J.P. Freire said the agency’s new leadership wants to consider a wider array of applicants, potentially including those who may work for chemical and fossil fuel companies.

Neo-necon recently noted that the progressives are now foaming at the mouth because of the passage of the initial phase of Obamacare appeal. I suspect this news will cause enough liberal heartburn that there is the potential for global warming to become a real cause of concern.

And while we can’t see what actually happened, I like to think it went something like this:

That isn’t the only good news from the world of sound science, either. The Interior Department has also frozen the work of more than 200 advisory boards, committees and subcommittees last week.

An agency spokeswoman said about a third of those advisory boards are science-based. The memo, received by a member of one of the advisory panels, said the department was instituting the freeze to review “the charter and charge of each committee” and that the review required the groups’ meetings be postponed until September at the earliest.

Ryan Zinke heads the Interior Department. During his confirmation hearings, he stated that he thought climate change was real but the level of human contribution was questionable. However, what is not questionable is Zinke’s sensible economic priorities.

Zinke, a Republican former Navy SEAL, said the federal government should keep ownership of its vast land holdings but should heed Western residents’ anger about Washington’s sway over their lives. He defended the need for expanded oil, gas and coal production, saying that “we’re going to need an economy that grows,” but wouldn’t pledge to head off big increases in the royalties that miners must pay. And he talked about natural gas exports as a potential tool to weaken Vladimir Putin, without explicitly opposing Trump’s hopes for warm relations with Russia.

If progressives were fair-and-balanced, they would at least appreciate Zinke’s use of natural resources to get to his Washington DC Offices.

Given the amount of regulatory crap that Washington, D.C. has made Americans live with based on these “science advisory boards” populated with apparent climate alarmists and anti-business activists, Zinke’s arrival on a horse is as appropriate as it is timely.



