Smog and Science

One of the biggest political names to have submitted an idea to On Day One thus far is Carol Browner, the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency. In fact, Carol didn't submit just one idea; she proposed THREE. In one, she urges the next president to enact a cap-and-trade system to control carbon in the environment. In another, she presses the next administration to reverse the EPA's rejection of a request that California made in December that would allow it to mandate selling cleaner cars. And in this video, she stresses the importance of independent science in decision-making, both in the EPA and throughout the government.

This latter idea is particularly salient today, after current EPA administrator Stephen Johnson opted to set a higher smog standard than the one unanimously advised by his agency's scientists. Johnson's unfortunate record of ignoring scientists' advice -- his staff all urged him to accept the California request that he rejected this past December -- highlights the pressing need to re-establish science's role as an independent, apolitical, and valuable source for well-informed decisions.