Washington D.C. - The White House Press Secretary yesterday criticized “historic levels of obstructionism” after Senate Republicans asked for Gina McCarthy, the President’s nominee to become EPA Administrator, to answer basic questions about the data underlying major regulations.  Science, Space and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) today released the following statement.

Chairman Smith: “For almost two years, Gina McCarthy has failed to live up to promises to provide Congress with the basic data that underlies this administration’s billion dollar Clean Air Act regulations.  The public has been denied the opportunity to review the science that underpins alleged benefits from these regulations. Utilizing secret science is no way to develop credible regulations. I commend my Senate colleagues for drawing this critical line in the sand.”

A recent poll by the Institute for Energy Research indicates that the American people agree with making data public and stand for transparent science; 90 percent of people agree that studies and data used to make federal government decisions should be made public and 91 percent think studies and data funded by taxpayers should be made public. 

In September 2011 in testimony before the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, Gina McCarthy committed to provide this data to Congress. VIDEO HERE