Renewable Revolution

 

Denier Roundup

As we pull our hair out about the ridiculous red/blue team effort Scott “Hi Hungry, I’m Dad” Pruitt has begun, the legal types have begun strategizing. That was the thrust of Maria Hegstad’s InsideEPA story yesterday, which highlights a little-known (but soon to be important) law regulating administrative advisory panels. 

The Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) provides guidance on how advisory panels are staffed and operated. Pruitt’s desire to stack boards with industry voices    and put on a red/blue team dog and pony show will have to be very carefully arranged if he hopes to avoid legal challenge. FACA stipulates that advisory panels must not be “inappropriately influenced” by either the political leadership (in this case, Pruitt) or special interests (Pruitt’s fossil fuel friends).

Unfortunately, the law is hard to enforce, in part because litigants would have to prove that they’ve been injured by the decisions made. That’s why there is little precedent to gauge whether or not this will really be an effective avenue of resistance. But it is something to keep an eye on.

There is no doubt that this law requiring honest and impartial advisory panels will be unwelcome news for Pruitt. (We assume this law is news to him anyway. After all, if he truly believed the advisory boards were inappropriately biased before he joined the EPA, why didn’t he ever sue over it? With his failing record for suing the EPA, it’s not like he’s opposed to losing lawsuits.)

Also unlikely to please Pruitt, if he finds out, is the release of a guide for how the public can resist Trump’s de-regulatory agenda. Produced by a volunteer group of former EPA employees organized as SaveEPA, the PDF walks readers through why Trump’s anti-regulatory talking points are false, how regulations are written, how the public can participate in the process, what they can do outside the official process and gives resources for tracking regulations and the Federal Register.

So Pruitt , you better have your ducks in a row when you set up your sham of a climate debate and try and stock advisory panels with industry shills. Climate advocates are watching, and unless you are really looking forward to defending the EPA in court instead of suing it like you’re used to, you better be real FACA’n careful.

https://insideepaclimate.com/daily-news/pruitt-faces-faca-rules-bid-climate-debate-advisory-panel-reforms