Activists want to use a little-known law passed in 2001 as a tool to prevent the Trump administration from posting what they call false information about climate change on the EPA’s website.
Legal analysts think the 2001 Information Quality Act, signed into law by former President George W. Bush, could become a weapon for scientists and climate advocates worried President Donald Trump will direct the agency to post information that conflicts with research showing a link between human action and global warming.
“Posting blatantly false information on the EPA’s website would violate the Information Quality Act,” Romany Webb, a climate law fellow at Columbia University, told reporters Thursday. “The guidelines clearly state that information disseminated to the public, including via a website, must be substantively accurate.”
The law allows people who object to information presented by a federal agency to request a correction or to have it retracted. They can appeal in a process overseen by an independent inspector general (IG) if the agency denies their request.
