“It strips federal EPA scientists of their ability to help the American public tackle the worst effects of climate change, and the EPA of its power to protect the environment and our communities from a worsening climate crisis,” said Marie Owens Powell, president of AFGE Council 238, the EPA’s largest employees union.
The ruling could create a “massive chilling effect” for regulators at a wide variety of federal agencies, from the Department of Transportation to the Department of Energy to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, said Kevin Bell, staff counsel for the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
“Any major regulatory program that involves a shift away from current practices … is now going to face big problems,” Bell predicted.
