More than a quarter of the candidates for an expert and influential EPA panel were pushed by the executive director of a nonprofit group that downplays the dangers of heat-trapping carbon dioxide.
Should agency Administrator Lee Zeldin choose any of the active nominees advanced by the CO2 Coalition to serve on the seven-member Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, they could prove key to his goal of rolling back the stronger soot exposure standard put in place last year that would, it’s predicted, eventually save thousands of lives.
The committee’s charter calls on Zeldin to choose candidates “who have demonstrated high levels of competence, knowledge, and expertise” in scientific and technical fields related to air pollution and air quality. Some observers are warily watching for signs that fealty to the Trump administration’s deregulatory regime matters more.
“We expect and ask that they create a balanced panel, that they not stack the deck with people who have fringe views or are not scientifically qualified,” said Gretchen Goldman, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, a liberal leaning research and advocacy group, in an interview.
