---
[ LOS ANGELES ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles)
# The EPA’s War on Science Continues
November 14 2019
Written by Jill Richardson.
[](https://www.addtoany.com/share)
**OTHER WORDS**-The Trump EPA wants to [introduce a new rule](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/11/climate/epa-science-trump.html): Its scientists can only use studies that make all of their data public.
The new proposal is crafted to sound like a win for transparency, which is supposed to be a good thing. In reality, the rule will significantly harm public health — and loosen the reins on polluters.
And that, of course, is the idea.
Let me explain. I am a graduate student in sociology, a social science. I study people, which means I collect some kind of data about them. For any scientist who studies people, transparency is important — but so is confidentiality.
Any basic research ethics class includes famous cases of unethical research on people that occurred in the not too distant past. So now, our institutions carefully review each study on people to ensure they are ethical.
Ethical research requires providing participants with enough information that they can give informed consent to participate. It means not taking advantage of vulnerable populations (like prison inmates or mental health patients), minimizing any risk of harm that might come to the people you are studying as much as possible, and disclosing any risk before they agree to participate.
In my case, that means that in any study I’ve done, I’ve promised my participants confidentiality.
With their permission, I might quote them in a publication using a fake name, but only if I can do so in a way that won’t allow anyone to identify them. I don’t want anything they tell me to be used to harm them back in their communities.
In the case of the new EPA rules, the information collected in public health studies can be even more intimate. When scientists study the effects of pollution on people’s health, they may confidentially review people’s private medical records. Obviously, these records should *not* be made public.
When a researcher cannot promise confidentiality, the quality of their research suffers. Fewer people may be willing to participate, which might harm the reliability of the results. Those who do will be less open.
How can we trust studies in which all of the data is not made public? Often, some of the data *is* made public, or at least made available to others in certain circumstances (such as by request).
Additionally, science is not an individual endeavor. Communities of scientists in each field work together to advance the knowledge within that field. Any new study will be picked apart by everyone who reads it, because that’s what we do to each other. Others will try to replicate your findings — and if they can’t, your conclusions will be called into question.
It’s rough on the ego, but it’s good for science.
Dismissing any study that does not make its data public, on the other hand — particularly when that data has a good reason to remain confidential, like medical data — serves to harm science, not help it.
And when you can’t do good science, you can’t base your public health regulations — your pesticide bans, your pollution controls, your clean water rules, and whatever else — on good science.
Given the track record of the Trump administration on the environment so far, it’s far more plausible that this proposal is intended to eliminate necessary public health regulations, not to promote transparency.
*(OtherWords columnist Jill Richardson is pursuing a PhD in sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Distributed by* [*OtherWords.org*](https://otherwords.org/the-epas-war-on-science-continues/)*.)*
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/115 "Brian Goldsmith Vertical R. Col")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/107 "LA DWP | Save $4K, Green | Priority Ad")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/114 "McKinney Campaign")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/82 "LA DWP #2 (Power Savers)")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/98 "Donna Tryfman - HS1-1")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/97 "Home - LA DWP #2 (Pay Water Bill Help)")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/111 "David DeJute Campaign")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/112 "Anna Reitano Vertical R. Col")
## Get The News In Your Email Inbox Mondays & Thursdays
Message
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/113 "Rhonda Haymon campaign")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/110 "Something You Should Know")
---
## Featured CityWatch Stories
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33648-heres-what-zionisms-got-to-do-with-it)
### [Here’s What Zionism’s Got To Do With It](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33648-heres-what-zionisms-got-to-do-with-it)
ICAN - The anonymous website “BHUSD Watch” recently published a long, detailed article about the current BHUSD board an…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33675-when-will-enough-be-enough)
### [When Will Enough Be Enough?](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33675-when-will-enough-be-enough)
ABE WON'T BE SILENT - I’ve hit a wall with the relentless stream of antisemitic bile flooding my social media feeds—and…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33673-announcing-the-second-issue-of-the-journal-for-humanitarian-conflict-resolution)
### [Announcing the Second Issue of the Journal for Humanitarian Conflict Resolution](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33673-announcing-the-second-issue-of-the-journal-for-humanitarian-conflict-resolution)
HUMAN RIGHTS - For much of my adult life, I have felt that defending human rights begins with refusing to regard anothe…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/election-2024/33655-two-democrats-one-senate-seat-candidate-brian-goldsmith-on-why-his-approach-makes-sense-for-voters)
### [Two Democrats, One Senate Seat: Candidate Brian Goldsmith on Why His Approach Makes Sense for Voters](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/election-2024/33655-two-democrats-one-senate-seat-candidate-brian-goldsmith-on-why-his-approach-makes-sense-for-voters)
ELECTION 2026 - The race to succeed retiring State Senator Ben Allen (D-24) pits two Democrats with different political…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/election-2024/33679-voting-blue-again-what-has-california-gotten-for-it)
### [Voting Blue Again? What Has California Gotten for It?](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/election-2024/33679-voting-blue-again-what-has-california-gotten-for-it)
PERSPECTIVE - The real state of Los Angeles, at least in part, can be seen and felt while driving down Sherman Way from…
---
## [ LOS ANGELES ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33680-could-la100-triple-your-power-rates)### [Could LA100 Triple Your Power Rates?](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33680-could-la100-triple-your-power-rates)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33686-los-angeles-is-already-testing-the-limits-of-robotaxi-safety)### [Los Angeles Is Already Testing the Limits of Robotaxi Safety](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33686-los-angeles-is-already-testing-the-limits-of-robotaxi-safety)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33637-getting-housing-projects-through-los-angeles-permitting-and-land-use-approvals)### [Getting Housing Projects Through Los Angeles Permitting and Land-Use Approvals](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33637-getting-housing-projects-through-los-angeles-permitting-and-land-use-approvals)
### [JAY on LA 10-28-26](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33630-jay-on-la-10-28-26)
### [JAY ON LA for 10-26-26](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33629-jay-on-la-for-10-26-26)