A federal judge struck a blow for transparency as she ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency must respond to a Freedom of Information Act request for documents informing their conclusion that carbon dioxide was not a major cause of climate change. The EPA had protested that complying with the EPA request was burdensome in requiring hours to find the relevant documents. The judge rejected that argument and slammed the EPA’s contention that evidence for a factual statement could not be ascertained. (Ars Technica, June 5, 2018, by Megan Geuss)
The transparency case stands out as a test of the EPA’s position on climate change that runs counter to scores of peer-reviewed studies over recent decades on how the burning of fossil fuels contributes to an alarming acceleration in planet warming. Another recent FOIA request found that the Trump administration had on the outset planned to attack established science on global warming. (Scientific American, June 5, 2018, by Scott Waldman)
For recent FAC coverage of EPA and transparency, click here and here.