How a contrarian scientist helped Trump’s EPA defy mainstream science

In March 2017, a scientist named James Enstrom rattled many public health experts by publishing a study concluding that there was no link between fine soot air pollution and premature death.The finding was drastically at odds with the consensus of medical researchers and with the evidence from nearly three decades of previous research.But it was in line with arguments that Enstrom, a physicist-turned-epidemiologist, had been making for years. His dissent had played an essential role in his ascen