Policy Concentrates POLICY SCIENCE COMMUNICATION
▸ Improved literacy unlikely to boost support for science
EPA watchdog declines to investigate chemistry professor
Scientists are often baffled by the public’s attitude toward important issues such as climate change or genetically modified foods. Many think that better science knowledge would convince people to support more scientifically based opinions. But improving science literacy is unlikely to change the public’s attitudes on these and other important scientific issues, according to a new National Academy of Sciences report. That’s because the public’s attitudes are based on their values and beliefs rather than just their science knowledge. In the U.S., the public’s knowledge of and support for science is comparable to that in other developed countries—but this hasn’t affected people’s views on controversial topics. Instead of focusing on science literacy, advocates who want to change public attitudes toward science issues need to focus on explaining the process of science, the report suggests. This includes common scientific practices such as testing hypotheses or peer review. The report presents a research agenda that could help clarify the link between science literacy and attitudes of both the public and decision-makers.—ANDREA
EPA’s inspector general won’t investigate allegations that a top agency adviser knowingly used flawed data in an influential study of methane emissions from oil and natural gas production. Some 130 environmental and other organizations claim that researcher David Allen used an inaccurate device to measure oil and gas field methane emissions in a study published in 2013 (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, DOI: 10.1073/ pnas.1304880110). Groups have Allen is a University of questioned the Texas, Austin, chemisvalidity of a 2013 try professor and forstudy on methane mer head of EPA’s Sciemissions from ence Advisory Board. U.S. oil and gas As a result of Allen’s production. study, the groups allege, U.S. oil and gas field emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, were underestimated. The inaccurate figures influenced EPA’s development of regulations to control methane emissions from new and existing oil and gas facilities, they said in a petition filed in June with the agency’s inspector general. The EPA Office of Inspector General gave C&EN no reasons for its decision not to investigate Allen. However, the office is still deciding whether to launch an evaluation of the EPA program that used Allen’s data, a spokesperson says.—JEFF
WIDENER
JOHNSON, special to C&EN
GREENHOUSE GASES
CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK
▸ U.S. CO2 emissions from natural gas to top coal’s U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from burning natural gas to generate electricity will exceed CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants this year, according to projections from the Energy Information Administration. When burned, natural gas creates about half the CO2 emissions of coal per unit of energy delivered, EIA notes, but this greenhouse gas advantage is being offset by natural gas’s greater use. The recent bonanza of natural gas has resulted in falling prices and a shift by U.S. utilities from coal to natural gas. Until about 2005, natural gas and coal consumption were similar, EIA says, but beginning
about 2007 natural gas consumption slowly exceeded coal. That trend grew and will continue, EIA says, as utilities continue to build power plants that use cheaper natural gas and shut down coal units. By the end of 2016, CO2 emissions from natural gas use will be 10% higher than those from coal, EIA predicts.—JEFF JOHNSON,
special to C&EN
PESTICIDES
▸ Court orders EPA to act on chlorpyrifos EPA is under a court-ordered deadline to finalize a rule that would prohibit all agricultural uses of chlorpyrifos, a common organophosphate insecticide. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Aug. 12 denied
the agency’s request for an additional six months to finalize the rule. Such a delay is not justified “in light of the EPA’s history in the matter” and “the court’s previous extensions,” it said. The court did, however, give the agency another three months to finish the rule, setting a March 31, 2017, deadline. EPA proposed to ban all uses of chlorpyrifos on food in October 2015 in response to a 2007 petition from environmental groups. The agency says that it cannot ensure that combined exposure to the pesticide from food and drinking water is safe. Exposure to chlorpyrifos has been associated with neurodevelopmental risks in children. The pesticide industry and farm groups strongly oppose EPA’s proposal. Pesticide manufacturer Dow AgroSciences is urging EPA to drop the rule, claiming that it is based on epidemiological studies from a single lab.—BRITT
ERICKSON AUGUST 22, 2016 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN
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