Fumin’ over fraud

California Assemblyman Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber) recently urged the delay or abandonment of a new regulation intended to reduce greenhouse gases, after it was revealed the scientist in charge of the study was a fraud, according to a state press release.

Nielsen (pictured) urged the California Air Resources Board to reconsider the Truck and Bus Regulation, which would require certain trucks and buses to meet performance requirements between 2011 and 2023.

The regulation—adopted Dec. 12 by the board—has come under scrutiny since officials discovered the “scientist” in charge of the study “turned out to be a fraud with a mail-order Ph.D. from a ‘university’ located in a UPS store in New York City,” according to the release.

It was also discovered that more than one senior board member knew about the scientist’s phony Ph.D. and did not disclose the information before the regulation went to a vote.