E&E Legal’s Senior Policy Fellow Steven J. Milloy today petitioned President Trump seeking federal standards to end the misuse and abuse of epidemiology by regulatory agencies that results in costly and pointless overregulation.  Milloy petitioned the President for an Executive branch-wide set of “standards for the use of epidemiology studies by regulatory agencies.”

In the letter, Milloy cites a glaring example of abuse that can occur when junk epidemiology for regulatory purposes.  Citing former President Obama’s ‘war on coal’ regulations, issued through the EPA, Milloy noted:

These rules were responsible for destroying about 94% of the market value of the coal industry and killing many thousands of coal industry jobs during the period 2011-2016 without providing any health, environmental or economic benefits whatsoever. The rules in question were “justified” on the basis of about $600 million worth of EPA-funded epidemiologic studies. These studies relied on secret data, and were either poorly or even fraudulently conducted and reviewed.

He also noted that his petition, if acted upon, would help President’s own agenda of eliminating government regulations that hurt the nation’s economy without being able to demonstrate any benefit.

Milloy, author of JunkScience.com, is a recognized leader in the fight against junk science with more than 25 years of accomplishment and experience.  He latest book, Scare Pollution: Why and How to Fix the EPAwas published just after the 2016 elections.

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