Scientific Advisory Boards At DOE, EPA And Inside The WH All Vacant/Inactive

[hatrack]

The Trump administration continues to operate without the usual cadre of outside experts that offer presidents advice on questions of science, research, energy, technology and innovation.

The White House website for the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology (PCAST) is no longer; the current page says, "Thank you for your interest in this subject. Stay tuned as we continue to update whitehouse.gov."

At the Department of Energy, the board of the secretary's most senior advisers is in limbo at best, with all of the 19 former members of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) having resigned on Jan. 20. It is unclear whether the administration is just slow in making personnel decisions or whether it reflects an antipathy toward the value of scientific advice.

Last Friday, a dozen members of U.S. EPA's advisory board of scientists were dismissed by the agency, and a spokesman said the dismissed members could be replaced by researchers from the industry that the agency is tasked with overseeing (Climatewire, May 9). Neither White House nor DOE media personnel responded to questions on the future of either advisory group.

EDIT

https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060054375

[orangecrush]

1. Gutted

The government of the People.

[northoftheborder]

2. Don't worry - Ivanka is reviewing the topic

[OKIsItJustMe]

3. Two EPA science board members resign in protest

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/333203-two-epa-science-board-members-resign-in-protest

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Two EPA science board members resign in protest[/font]

By Devin Henry - 05/12/17 05:09 PM EDT

[font size=3]Two members of an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) science panel resigned Friday in protest after the agency dismissed other scientists from the board earlier this month.

Carlos Martin and Peter Meyer said in a Friday letter that they would leave the Board of Scientific Counselors’ (BOSC) Sustainable and Healthy Communities subcommittee. In a letter Martin posted on Twitter, the scientists said their resignation stems from the EPA’s decision not to renew two other scientists’ positions within BOSC.

Just resigned from EPA subcommittee to protest removal of @ecotrope & Courtney Flint. Painful professional decision. #standupforscience pic.twitter.com/Zz09bD0vnj
— Carlos Martín (@carlosonhousing) May 12, 2017

“The effective removal of our subcommittee’s co-chairs suggests that our collective knowledge is not valued by the current EPA administrators,” Martin and Meyer wrote.

…[/font][/font]

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. Interior Dept. freezes work of advisory boards

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/08/politics/interior-department-ryan-zinke-science/

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Interior Dept. freezes work of advisory boards[/font]

By Rene Marsh and Eli Watkins, CNN
Updated 5:50 PM ET, Mon May 8, 2017

[font size=3]Washington (CNN)The Interior Department froze the work of more than 200 advisory boards, committees and subcommittees last week, according to a department memo obtained by CNN.

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.

News of the May 5 memo came as CNN learned Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt had dismissed half of the scientists serving on a scientific review board that provides guidance to the EPA.

…[/font][/font]

[Rhiannon12866]

5. This needs to be reported as breaking news each and every day.

It's not being brought up in the media so people aren't aware of this major reason for the unmitigated dysfunction. And the man is playing golf! How is this allowed to go on?? WTF???