10mo ago

EPA Scientists Said They Were Pressured to Downplay Harms From Chemicals. A Watchdog Found They Were Retaliated Against.

www.propublica.org

Politics @beehaw.org

tardigrada @beehaw.org

10mo ago

During former U.S. President Trump’s term, managers at the Environmental Protection Agency pressured scientists to make new chemicals they were vetting seem safer than they really were

www.propublica.org /article/epa-scientists-faced-retaliation-after-finding-harm-from-chemicals

Politics @sh.itjust.works

pelespirit @sh.itjust.works

10mo ago

EPA Scientists Said They Were Pressured to Downplay Harms From Chemicals. A Watchdog Found They Were Retaliated Against.

www.propublica.org /article/epa-scientists-faced-retaliation-after-finding-harm-from-chemicals

News @lemmy.world

silence7 @slrpnk.net

10mo ago

EPA Scientists Said They Were Pressured to Downplay Harms From Chemicals. A Watchdog Found They Were Retaliated Against.

www.propublica.org /article/epa-scientists-faced-retaliation-after-finding-harm-from-chemicals

15 comments

The reports called on the EPA to take “appropriate corrective action” in response to the findings. In one case, the inspector general noted that supervisors who violate the Whistleblower Protection Act should be suspended for at least three days.
The reports focus only on the retaliation claims. The inspector general is expected to issue reports in the future about the whistleblowers’ scientific allegations.
Under the orange asshole's reign.
Don't ever forget what Trump did, because he will do worse if he's elected again.
- and don't forget what Biden and the Democrats do
  Their allegations, which detailed industry pressure that continued under the administration of President Joe Biden and pointed fingers at career officials who still worked for the EPA, were the subject of a 10-part series I published in The Intercept.
  “It’s been four years since we first started raising concerns about what was happening, and we haven’t seen a resolution yet,” Gallagher said. “We haven’t gotten assurance that the concerns we’ve been raising will be fixed.”
  both parties are already bought by corporations
  
  That's fair. Don't know why you're getting downvoted for stating the facts tho.
  
  This has been going on for decades. It pops up every now and again in the news, cue public outrage, the next news cycle comes along and this is forgotten about until a media outlet covers it again, repeat.
What is the point of whistleblower laws if there is no protections?
- The point of whisleblower laws is to make people feel like a lack of whistleblowers means a lack of things to blow whistles over. Then all they have to do is silence any whistles before they're heard by the general population and boom, public trust in the system is strengthened without actually needing to do anything drastic like actually fixing the system.
- Cynical take: Presumably to protect corporations from whistleblowers.
  
  That's a realistic take tho.

15 comments