USDA – R&R – Reachout and Rebuild

Trump nominated a climate denier as USDA chief scientist — here’s why that matters

David Posnett — Tue, 29 Aug 2017 13:45:35 +0000

Salon.com — MONDAY, AUG 28, 2017

Democrats vow to fight Sam Clovis, who isn’t a scientist and whose ignorant views threaten our food supply

AMANDA MARCOTTE

In all the Donald Trump-created chaos, it might seem a little odd at first blush that Senate Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer, are making a big public stink over Sam Clovis, Trump’s pick to be the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientist.

“President Trump should withdraw the Clovis nomination immediately,” Schumer announced in a statement. “If President Trump refuses to withdraw Mr. Clovis, we will vehemently oppose his nomination and urge our colleagues from both parties to come together and summarily reject him as well.”

To many voters, this might seem like a minor consideration in the grand scheme of things, but the grim fact of the matter is that the Clovis nomination is a very real threat, not just to the farmers who rely on the USDA, but to the country as a whole that depends on the food they grow. Picking Clovis is a chilling reminder that Trump doesn’t care what damage he does to this country, so long as he’s sticking it to liberals and erasing Obama’s legacy.

Much of the negative press attention devoted to Clovis, a talk show radio host from Iowa, stems from his history of racist and homophobic remarks. Equally troubling, however, is the fact that Clovis is completely unqualified for the role of chief scientist, and there’s reason to believe he’s hostile to much of the important work protecting America’s food that the people who would be working for him do every day.

“If he is qualified for this job, then I should try out for the Golden State Warriors,” joked David Lobell, a professor in Stanford University’s Center on Food Security and the Environment. “Ideally, you want a scientist doing science and leading scientists. I can’t really make sense of this.”

Clovis is definitely not a scientist. His defenders try to shore up his credentials by calling him an economist, but as Karen Perry Stillerman of the Union of Concerned Scientists pointed out, even that’s a stretch.

“Perhaps Clovis taught an economics class to undergraduates at Morningside College (or perhaps not),” Stillerman writes, “but even if he did that hardly makes him an economist. He has no economics degree and no published work in the field.”

Clovis’ doctorate is in public administration, but his life’s passion is in being a right-wing propagandist. In between teaching business classes at a small liberal arts college in Iowa, Clovis hosted “Impact With Sam Clovis” on KSCJ in Sioux City, Iowa, where he promoted right-wing conspiracy theories such as birtherism.

Most importantly, Clovis promoted the conspiracy theory that holds that climate change is a hoax perpetuated by the world’s scientists in order to enact some shadowy leftist agenda.

“Speaking with [an] Iowa radio host in February 2014, Clovis agreed . . . that climate change was a way to redistribute wealth and ‘a big hustle,’” write Andrew Kaczynski, Chris Massie, and Paul LeBlanc of CNN. “Clovis also made reference to ‘Agenda 21,’ a United Nations action plan on sustainability that right-wing figures have long claimed is an attempt by the internal organization to strip local governments of their sovereignty.”

That’s alarming, because a lot of the research work that Clovis would be managing at the USDA is focused on climate change. Some of that work is about trying to slow down and reduce climate change, but, as Lobell argued, the more pressing concern is the work being done by USDA scientists around the country in trying to help American agricultural adapt to the changes brought by global warming.

“I would say the biggest challenge is that our main commodity crops are growing where we anticipate pretty negative effects of climate change,” Lobell explained. “I think adapting some of our main commodity crops — corn, soybeans — is a really big challenge.”

No doubt many of these scientists will keep their heads down and try to keep doing their job of helping farmers adjust to changing temperatures and water supplies, Lobell added. He still worries that having a climate-change denier as boss might “cause an exodus of really good scientists.”

“We depend on good science for insuring our food supply,” he added.

“Adapting to climate change doesn’t just mean making the bad stuff go away,” Lobell continued. “It also means making sure we don’t miss new things we can do that we couldn’t have done before. Both of those take science. Both of those take long-term research to figure out what actually works.”

If this work doesn’t happen because Trump thought it was amusing to appoint a talk show host to head up an agricultural research department, farmers may start seeing their yields go down.

“The consumers of food end up paying the cost of shortages in food production,” Lobell said, at least in the short term.

In the long term, he warned, the U.S. could start seeing its agricultural dominance decline. Countries like Canada and Russia may become significantly more competitive, if agricultural research efforts in the U.S. are stymied.

Clovis’ appointment may not even be legal. Federal law stipulates that the personwho holds this position must be “from among distinguished scientists with specialized training or significant experience in agricultural research, education, and economics.” Barack Obama appointed Catherine Woteki, a nutrition scientist, to this key role in the USDA. George W. Bush’s appointee was Gale A. Buchanan, a scientist who researched soil.

Clovis got the nomination, according to Politico, mostly because he’s good at flattering Trump. Nearly two dozen industry groups have also backed the nomination, however, arguing that the scientists working at the USDA “do not need a peer” but rather “need someone to champion their work before the administration, the Congress, and all consumers around the world.”

That might sound good on paper, but there’s no reason to think Clovis will show much interest in championing science, especially when the researchers in questions are working to solve problems Clovis refuses to admit are real. No doubt industry groups are excited to have a business-friendly right-winger in this office, but the decision to back an anti-science conspiracy theorist is short-sighted in the extreme. Whatever short-term economic gains may result could easily be lost if, under Clovis’s management, the American agricultural system fails to adapt to climate change.

It is both symbolically and materially important that Schumer, leader of the Senate’s Democratic minority, has put a priority on fighting Clovis’ appointment. Clovis is a symbol of the cynicism of the Trump administration and the contempt the president has for the people he is supposed to represent. Even more worryingly, he’s a threat to the affordability of food and the health of our country’s agricultural system for generations to come.

Tom Price Bought Drug Stocks. Then He Pushed Pharma’s Agenda in Australia.

David Posnett — Thu, 01 Jun 2017 21:26:12 +0000

Before he was named Trump’s health secretary, Price took a congressional trip to Australia and pressed officials to extend protections for drug companies in an international trade agreement.

by Robert Faturechi
ProPublica, June 1, 2017, 8 a.m.

In the spring before the 2016 presidential election, the Obama administration’s 12-nation trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, was still alive. Negotiators worked on details as Congress considered whether to ratify the pact.

The Australian government was getting in the way of one change demanded by U.S. pharmaceutical companies. Makers of cutting-edge biological drugs wanted to have data from their clinical trials protected from competitors for 12 years, as they are under U.S. law — not the roughly five years permitted under the TPP. Australian officials insisted that an extension would deprive consumers of cheaper alternatives for too long.

On April 5, 2016, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers arrived in Canberra, Australia’s capital, for meetings with government officials on a broad range of subjects. Among those on the routine congressional trip was Rep. Tom Price, a Georgia Republican who would go on to become President Trump’s secretary of health and human services. Three weeks before the trip, Price had purchased up to $90,000 worth of pharmaceutical stocks — trades that would come under scrutiny after his nomination to Trump’s cabinet.

In Canberra, Price and another Republican, Rep. John Kline of Minnesota, pressured senior Australian trade officials to modify their position on the 12-year extension, according to a congressional aide who was on the trip. The Australians explained that they had no intention of changing their laws or rules in ways that could increase drug prices. Price and Kline continued pushing, according to the aide, asking for a side letter or other written guidance that the period would be extended in Australia even if it weren’t spelled out in the TPP itself.

Price’s lobbying abroad, which has not previously been reported, is another example of how his work in Congress could have benefitted his investment portfolio. He traded hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of shares in health-related companies while taking action on legislation and regulations affecting the industry. ProPublica previously reported that Price’s stock trades are said to be under investigation by federal prosecutors.

Price, who did not respond to an interview request for this story, has said he did nothing wrong, that his broker generally chose stocks without his knowledge and that all of his trades were publicly disclosed.

Price’s financial disclosures submitted to the House Office of the Clerk show that on March 17, 2016, he purchased shares worth between $1,000 and $15,000 each in Eli Lilly, Amgen, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, McKesson, Pfizer and Biogen. All six companies had an interest in biological drugs, which are grown from live cells and are known for short as biologics. Eli Lilly, for example, is behind Portrazza, the first biologic approved to treat a common type of lung cancer. Amgen makes a top-seller for rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. Biogen developed a biologic for people suffering multiple sclerosis relapses.

Kline, who has since retired from Congress, said he could not recall if he or anyone else raised the biologics issue. His financial disclosures do not show direct holdings in pharmaceutical companies.

Australia has played another role in Price’s financial activities. In 2015 the congressman bought about $10,000 worth of shares in Innate Immunotherapeutics, a small biologics firm with an office in Sydney. After the congressional trip, which also made a stop in Sydney, Price purchased a larger stake in the company, about $84,000 worth, in two private placements, the first of which was announced in June. Price was invited to purchase the shares at a discounted rate.

It’s not known if Price had any contact with the firm while in Sydney. Price didn’t respond to questions about when and where he discussed the discounted offering with company officials. The company’s officials also did not respond.

Traveling congressional delegations typically meet with a variety of local officials, and at the time of the visit to Australia it wasn’t unusual for Republican lawmakers to side with the pharmaceutical industry on the trade deal’s protections for biologics. Price’s advocacy stands out because he pushed the cause directly with foreign officials, while at the same time owning stakes in companies that could have benefited.

An itinerary for the trip reviewed by ProPublica mentions TPP in relation to one of the meetings, but does not list the biologics provision. A former Australian trade official, who asked not to be named and attended one of the meetings, confirmed that the 12-year lockup was addressed, but said he could not recall which Congress members were pushing it.

Others on the trip, organized by the House’s Education and the Workforce Committee, were Robert Scott, D-Va., Ruben Hinojosa, D-Texas, Erik Paulsen, R-Minn. and Dan Benishek, R-Mich. Those members who responded to requests for comment said they could not recall whether the provision was discussed.

The data collected during clinical trials of drugs can save competitors time in developing the cheaper alternatives to biologics known as biosimilars. Keeping the data proprietary longer extends the original drugmaker’s monopoly. While some big brand-name pharmaceutical companies also make biosimilars, they and their trade association — the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America — advocated strongly for longer exclusivity.

In the end, the debate over the provision became moot. Trump scrapped the TPP days after taking office. Price divested his drug stocks upon taking the cabinet post. His investment in Innate Immunotherapeutics yielded a profit of at least $150,000.

Trump’s Expected Pick for Top USDA Scientist Is Not a Scientist

David Posnett — Mon, 15 May 2017 21:55:48 +0000

Sam Clovis likely to be named undersecretary of the USDA department that manages research on everything from climate change to nutrition.

by Jessica Huseman
Published in ProPublica, May 12, 2017, 7 p.m

The USDA’s research section studies everything from climate change to nutrition. Under the 2008 Farm Bill, its leader is supposed to serve as the agency’s “chief scientist” and be chosen “from among distinguished scientists with specialized or significant experience in agricultural research, education, and economics.”

But Sam Clovis — who, according to sources with knowledge of the appointment and members of the agriculture trade press, is President Trump’s pick to oversee the section — appears to have no such credentials.

Clovis has never taken a graduate course in science and is openly skeptical of climate change. While he has a doctorate in public administration and was a tenured professor of business and public policy at Morningside College for 10 years, he has published almost no academic work.

Clovis is better known for hosting a conservative talk radio show in his native Iowa and, after mounting an unsuccessful run for Senate in 2014, becoming a fiery pro-Trump advocate on television.

Clovis advised Trump on agricultural issues during his presidential campaign and is currently the senior White House advisor within the USDA, a position described by The Washington Post as “Trump’s eyes and ears” at the agency.

Clovis was also responsible for recruiting Carter Page, whose ties to Russia have become the subject of intense speculation and scrutiny, as a Trump foreign policy advisor.

Neither Clovis, nor the USDA, nor the White House responded to questions about Clovis’ nomination to be the USDA’s undersecretary for research, education and economics.

Catherine Woteki, who served as undersecretary for research, education and economics in the Obama administration, compared the move to appointing someone without a medical background to lead the National Institutes of Health. The USDA post includes overseeing scientific integrity within the agency.

“This position is the chief scientist of the Department of Agriculture. It should be a person who evaluates the scientific body of evidence and moves appropriately from there,” she said in an interview.

Woteki holds a Ph.D. in human nutrition and served as the first undersecretary for food safety at the USDA during the Clinton administration. She was then the dean of the school of agriculture at Iowa State University before becoming the global director of scientific affairs for Mars, Inc.

Clovis has a B.S. in political science from the U.S. Air Force Academy, an MBA from Golden State University and a doctorate in public administration from the University of Alabama. The University of Alabama canceled the program the year after Clovis graduated, but an old course catalogue provided by the university does not indicate the program required any science courses.

Clovis’ published works do not appear to include any scientific papers. His 2006 dissertation concerned federalism and homeland security preparation, and a search for academic research published by Clovis turned up a handful of journal articles, all related to national security and terrorism.

As undersecretary for research, education and economics, Woteki directed additional resources to helping local farmers and agricultural workers address the impacts of severe drought, flooding and unpredictable weather patterns. She chaired the “Global Research Alliance to Reduce Agricultural Greenhouse Gasses,” which brings together chief agricultural scientists from across the globe. Under her leadership, the USDA also created “Climate Hubs” across the country to help localized solutions for adapting to climate change.

Clovis has repeatedly expressed skepticism over climate science and has called efforts to address climate change “simply a mechanism for transferring wealth from one group of people to another.” He has indicated the Trump administration will take a starkly different approach at the USDA. Representing the campaign at the Farm Foundation Forum in October, Clovis told E&E News that Trump’s agriculture policy would focus on boosting trade and lessening regulation and not the impact of climate change.

“I think our position is very clearly [that] Mr. Trump is a skeptic on climate change, and we need more science,” he said. “Once we get more science, we are going to make decisions.”

The USDA’s undersecretary for research, education and economics has historically consulted on a wide range of scientific issues. Woteki, for example, said she was asked for input on the Zika and Ebola outbreaks because of the USDA’s relevant research and was frequently called upon to offer guidance on homeland security issues related to food safety.

“Access to safe food and clean air and water is absolutely fundamental to personal security,” she said, adding that a scientific understanding of food safety is critical to success in the job. “Food systems are widely recognized by the national security community as being part of critical infrastructure.”

Clovis’ academic background includes years of study on homeland security, but focused almost exclusively on foreign policy. A biography he provided to the 2016 Fiscal Summit at which he was a speaker indicates he is “a federalism scholar” and “an expert on homeland security issues,” with “regional expertise in Europe, the former Soviet Union, and the Middle East.” Neither this biography nor any other publicly available biographies list any experience in food safety, agriculture or nutrition.

Clovis first became well-known in Iowa through his radio show, “Impact with Sam Clovis.” He finished a distant second in the 2014 Republican Primary for an Iowa Senate seat ultimately won by Joni Ernst. During the race, his outlandish statements often made headlines. In one instance, he said the only reason President Obama hadn’t yet been impeached was because of his race.

While Sam Clovis likely to be named undersecretary of the USDA department that manages research on everything from climate change to nutrition.he initially signed on as former Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s top Iowa advisor, he left in August 2015 to become the Trump campaign’s national co-chair and chief policy advisor. Emails leaked by the Perry campaign to The Des Moines Register show Clovis slamming Trump in the months before, questioning his faith. “His comments reveal no foundation in Christ, which is a big deal,” Clovis wrote. He also praised Perry for calling Trump a “cancer on conservatism.”

Still, Clovis subsequently became one of Trump’s best-known advocates on cable television, where he relentlessly defended his new boss. On “Morning Joe,” he said Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton had failed to “control the sexual predation that went on in her own home.” On SiriusXM, he said Republicans who were abandoning Trump were “weak-kneed” and “lily-livered.”

Trump’s call for a “total and complete shutdown” of entry of Muslims into the United States in December 2015 put Clovis’ job as a tenured professor at risk.

“If he played a role in drafting or advising the Trump campaign on this issue, we will be outraged and extremely disappointed in Dr. Clovis,” Morningside College spokesman Rick Wollman told Iowa Starting Line, before pledging to look “more closely” at the issue.

Clovis went on unpaid leave from the college in the summer of 2015 and resigned after Trump’s win in November.