Elizabeth Kolbert

actions that they take have the effect of protecting our waterways, protecting our air, and have implications for all species that share those waterways and share the air.

But really, regulations are designed to be protective of human health.

And that is its job.

And that has meant there's always a tug of war between what industry wants, what public health and environmental groups want, and you could argue what the public wants.

And the EPA has had to balance that.

And certainly in different administrations, the balance has moved.

You know, that needle has moved somewhat.

But I think in general, administrators have seen their role as protecting public health.

And that is not clear that that's what's going on right now.

So the Office of Research and Development is often or was often described as EPA's scientific research arm.

And it was distinctive in a few ways from other departments at the EPA.

It was not in Washington.

It was not really centrally located.

It was dispersed in labs around the country.

One of the biggest centers was in Research Triangle in North Carolina.

And that was very purposeful.

And the idea was the ORD was supposed to be independent

from Central Command, independent from the politics of the latest administration.

And it had many roles.

It employed 1,500 people.