Rep. Lamar Smith accused the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday of cherry picking the science it uses to develop its regulations.
The Texas Republican spoke during a hearing held by the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, which he chairs. He said the ozone regulation handed down by the EPA earlier this month is based on science that is “nothing more than political rhetoric.”
“Good science should dictate policy,” Smith said. “However, it appears that the EPA conveniently cherry-picks the science that supports its extreme agenda. This is not sound science; it is science fiction.”
The National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone was lowered from 75 parts per billion to 70 parts per billion at the beginning of October. Ozone is the primary component in smog, and EPA’s change was the first time the ozone standard had been lowered since 2008.
It was a decision that managed to make both industry and environmental groups angry.
According to critics of the rule, the lowered standard will put much of the country out of compliance with the regulation, including some areas considered to be pristine wilderness as well as national parks, will not be able to comply with the stricter standard. They have lashed out at the regulation’s costs and speculated that it could be the costliest rule in history.
Green groups think the rule didn’t go far enough and wanted it somewhere closer to 60 parts per billion. The Obama administration initially proposed lowering the standard to somewhere between 65 parts per billion and 70 parts per billion, but considered going to 60.
Smith’s committee is hearing testimony on Thursday about how the regulation will impact small businesses and job creation.
