Trump-Nominated EPA Member Thinks The Air Is Too Clean

Well this is kind terrifying and a good illustration of the poisonous effect the Trump administration is having on the United States, and not just in the area of politics. From Newsweek, a report on the maverick opinions of Robert Phalen, who is about to join the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the US. The concern? The researcher at the University of California Irvine is a scientist who believes that our air is “too clean” and that a bit of pollution is good for our physical development:

One of the new White House appointees to a critical environmental panel once said that the air these days is just too clean to promote good health.

Robert Phalen, an air pollution researcher at the Irvine campus of the University of California, said in 2012 that children need to breathe irritants so that their bodies learn how to ward them off.

Phalen is one of 17 new appointees to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Scientific Advisory Board, which helps develop environmental policy. Other nominees include scientists from the oil industry, a chemical industry trade association, and various universities and consulting groups.

Like Phalen, many are expected to argue for less regulation, an agenda that is backed by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.

The Trump Administration has moved quickly to assert its control over the EPA’s science team. Several members of the advisory panel were dismissed in May, part of the EPA’s anti-regulatory agenda and shift to hearing more voices from business and industry, said some departed members of the panel. President Trump directed Pruitt to cut the EPA budget by 40 percent, and to roll back regulations on clean water protection and climate change prevention. The official EPA website also deleted pages that included climate change research.

Bye, bye, clean America bye…