Science-based research has not taken a backseat in the Trump administration, according to Teresa Booeshaghi, the EPA’s new Associate Administrator of the Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions.
There are several major efforts underway in the administration, including learning more about “former chemicals,” researching microplastics, and the mission to say goodbye to animal testing.
“I think the biggest myth out there is that we are no longer doing science and that could not be more wrong,” Booeshaghi told Townhall in her first interview in her new role.
“Gold standard science is alive and well at the Trump EPA, and we are working collaboratively across the agency to ensure that scientific research is happening and that it is aligned with the statutory and program needs,” she added.
When it comes to “forever chemicals” known as PFAS, she noted that “it is top of mind for many American communities.”
“We’re also addressing scientific needs that address human health and the environment and those risks through getting a better understanding of bioaccumulation, fate and transport, and the environment,” she said.
As for microplastics research, she noted much of it is focused on Americans' drinking water.
“But we do also work with the other federal agencies and are engaged, with MAHA and others to make sure that we're appropriately addressing these issues,” she said.
The EPA’s efforts to clamp back animal testing has also made waves, as the agency is pushing for no testing with mammals before 2035, and Booeshaghi explained that there were new steps announced for it on Tuesday.
“The first step was that EPA approved 13 cutting-edge alternative test methods,” she said, adding that “those are going to be replacing animal studies.”
For years, organizations like the Humane World Action Fund and National Anti-Vivisection Society have advocated for animal testing to be scrapped.
“The second would be a streamlined process that all researchers, companies, and stakeholders can use to nominate their own new approach methods for consideration,” she added.
Meanwhile, Democrats have been vocally critical of the Trump administration’s handling of science-based efforts, including in a September report from some Senate Democrats, claiming that “the Trump Administration has demonstrated that it is determined to attack science itself.”
“The harms from the Trump Administration’s cuts and firings will accumulate for years, indeed for decades, to come: lives that might have been saved by studies the Administration defunded,” the minority staff report from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations stated.