Trump Fires National Science Board, Zeldin Gutting EPA, Nuclear Hubris, and Wendell Berry's Vision
The president fired all 22 members of the National Science Board, a statutory body created by the 1950 NSF Act to advise on science policy. The NSB members, drawn from top institutions, were replaced with pending appointments. Jim O'Neill, a non-scientist, will head NSF. Meanwhile, Lee Zeldin has transformed the EPA into a pro-polluter agency, placing 144 staff on leave after they sent a letter criticizing his partisanship. The EPA has dropped regulations on arsenic, mercury, and PM2.5, and now supports coal. The article also discusses nuclear power's risks, citing Chernobyl's legacy and the high cost of Plant Vogtle. Finally, it reflects on nostalgia as homesickness, quoting Jason Peters, and Wendell Berry's poem calling for stewardship of the land.
Key facts
- President fired all 22 members of the National Science Board.
- NSB was created by the National Science Foundation Act of 1950.
- Jim O'Neill, a biotech investor, will be the first non-scientist NSF director.
- Lee Zeldin placed 144 EPA staff on administrative leave after they sent a letter criticizing his leadership.
- EPA under Zeldin dropped regulations on arsenic, mercury, and PM2.5.
- EPA has become pro-coal and blocked states from acting on emissions.
- Chernobyl led to 5,000-50,000 excess cancer deaths and contaminated 58,000 square miles.
- Cost to build one nuclear reactor has reached $20 billion.
- Jason Peters defines nostalgia as homesickness, not longing for a past that never existed.
- Wendell Berry's poem urges future generations to treat the land well.
Entities
Artists
- Wendell Berry
- Mary Oliver
- Jason Peters
- Christopher Lasch
- William Wordsworth
- Terry Tempest Williams
- Robert Shetterly
- Eugene Odum
- Paul Josephson
- Roger Beachy
- Big Herm Williams
- William Ruckelshaus
Institutions
- National Science Board
- National Science Foundation
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Office of Management and Budget
- National Academy of Sciences
- Washington University-St. Louis
- Caltech
- Berkeley
- Michigan State
- Tuskegee
- US Air Force Academy
- Oxford
- Morgan State
- The New Yorker
- E&E News
- Engelsberg Ideas
- The Berry Center
- Counterpoint
- Bayer
- Monsanto
- Georgia Power
- Plant Vogtle
- Steve's Amoco
- Dairy Barn
- Breaking Points
Locations
- United States
- Washington, D.C.
- Chernobyl
- Ukraine
- Zaporizhzhia
- Fukushima
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Scottville
- Michigan
- Houston Ship Channel
- Atlanta
- Cleveland
- Detroit
- Hawai'i
- Ogygia
- Ithaca
- Scotland