First Trump administration on open access to research
During the first Trump term (January 20, 2017 – January 20, 2021) I tracked his administration's positions on open access to research. Now that his second term is beginning (January 20, 2025), I want to do the same. I tracked his first term on Twitter, which I no longer use. I'll track his second term on Mastodon.
- This is a collection of my tweets on his first term. I've created it for two reasons — first, to help readers see his first administration's track record on these issues, and second, to help me link to pieces of that history.
- The tweets collected here are still online. When I list one, I include its original link and text.
- When a tweet used a shortened URL, especially one that is now dead or likely to die, I replace it here with a working full-length URL. I leave the original Twitter handles and hashtags. When the tweets included URLs, I include the URLs and turn them into active links; but in one case (a very long URL for a Google search), I use an active link without spelling out the URL.
- I'm starting with the tweets I could found in a systematic search. I'll add more later if I find more.
- From February 8, 2017
Scott Pruit, #Trump nominee to head #EPA, sued for blocking public access to polluter emails in Oklahoma. https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/02/07/lawsuit-filed-against-trump-nominee-scott-pruitt-denying-public-access-polluter
- From April 22, 2018
- 1/8 Scott Pruitt, head of #Trump's Environmental Protection Agency (@EPA), is proposing a kind of #opendata mandate. @MikeBastasch: it "will reverse long-standing EPA policy allowing regulators to rely on non-public scientific data in crafting rules...." https://dailycaller.com/2018/03/19/epa-scott-pruitt-secret-science/
- 2/8 Under the new policy, "EPA regulators would only be allowed to consider scientific studies that make their data available for public scrutiny....Also, EPA-funded studies would need to make all their data public." https://dailycaller.com/2018/03/19/epa-scott-pruitt-secret-science/
- 3/8 Most right-wing calls for #openaccess have been politically selective, designed to embarrass liberals or harass climate researchers. I discussed examples in this 2010 article (+ problem of supporting OA & opposing politically selective calls for OA). https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/4738862
- 4/8 At first it seems the Pruitt policy is politically neutral. Among those arguing it's not, see Yogin Kothari (@YoginUCS). Some of the most relevant & best-confirmed science on the harms of pollution use private medical records and cannot be made OA. http://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/381485-scott-pruitts-trojan-horse-transparency-proposal-would-undermine
- 5/8 The Pruitt policy is modeled on Lamar Smith's politically one-sided and Orwellian HONEST Act. See this Google search.
- 6/8 The Union of Concerned Scientists (@UCSUSA) just obtained @EPA docs via #FOIA showing that Pruitt's push for transparency is highly political. Note that these docs were formerly OA on the EPA web site and recently taken down. https://blog.ucsusa.org/yogin-kothari/here-are-the-transparency-policy-documents-the-epa-does-not-want-you-to-see
- 7/8 Apart from exposing the political underbelly of the Pruitt policy, kudos to
@UCSUSA for providing #openaccess to the docs it obtained by #FOAI. Too few FOIA applicants take that important extra step. https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1cE4-gEJOeNxOv5DtZnBHopfNoxoDJ4-M
- 8/8 The Pruitt proposal is still not public. But Pruitt sent it to the White House for approval on April 19. https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eoDetails?rrid=128011
- From April 25, 2018
- 1/3 Open letter from 985 scientists to Scott Pruit at @EPA: "We urge you to cease any plans to restrict the types of science that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can use in regulatory decisionmaking...."
https://s3.amazonaws.com/ucs-documents/science-and-democracy/secret-science-letter-4-23-2018.pdf
- 2/3 "EPA can only adequately protect our air and water and keep us safe from harmful chemicals if it takes full advantage of the wealth of scientific research that is available to the agency...."
- 3/3 "Proponents for these radical restrictions purport to [care about] reproducibility & transparency. In reality, these are phony issues that weaponize ‘transparency’ to facilitate political interference in science-based decisionmaking, rather than genuinely address either...."
- From October 5, 2018
US Dept of @Interior follows @EPA in deceptively using the rhetoric of #openaccess to *limit* the science that policymakers can consider. Worse, already in effect, not subject to public comments. #Trump #openwashing. https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/409984-interior-implements-new-science-policy
- From March 2, 2019
Despite the Trump admin's regressive track record on #openaccess to federally-funded research (e.g. at @EPA and @Interior), its new National Action Plan talks the talk on good OA policy. See Initiative 3. Now to watch for the details and the walk. https://open.usa.gov/assets/files/NAP4-fourth-open-government-national-action-plan.pdf
- From January 23, 2020
"The [#Trump @EPA] suppressed the work of its career employees and dismissed legitimate science...dozens of former and current employees have alleged. The employees are asking investigators to discipline the top officials responsible." https://govexec.com/management/2020/01/career-employees-allege-epa-leaders-silenced-them-key-deregulation-effort/162559/
- From January 1, 2021
- On its way out, the Trump admin might approve the @EPA's regressive pseudo-open proposal.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/532249-epa-secret-science-rule-appears-to-clear-white-house-review For my arguments against it, search for #openwashing or see these two twitter threads from April 2018. [Links to my tweets from April 22 and 25, 2018; see above.]
- Update [January 6, 2021]. The @EPA #openwashing is now a done deal.
- Update [January 8, 2021]. "Many observers believe [Democrats] could use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to revoke the rule."
- Update [January 12, 2021]. "Green groups on Monday filed a lawsuit in an attempt to prevent a new rule limiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) use of certain studies from taking effect."
- From February 26, 2021
New study: The #Trump @EPA removed public info from its web site, 80% of the time "just prior to or during active regulatory proceedings." https://envirodatagov.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Access-Denied-Report.pdf
- From March 6, 2021
- 1/ Good news: #Biden's @Interior Dept just rescinded its #Trump-era #openwashing policy.
https://nationofchange.org/2021/03/04/science-wins-at-the-interior-department/
- 2/ Last month the similar policy at @EPA was overturned in court, at the request of the #Biden admin.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/02/01/trump-secret-science/
- From March 20, 2021
- Trump → #Biden:
"The Environmental Protection Agency’s webpage about climate change reawakened from a four-year slumber on Thursday morning. Turn to the page now and you’ll see: 'EPA is restoring the science in addressing the climate crisis.' " https://grist.org/politics/biden-revives-epa-climate-change-site-trump-deleted/