The Union of Concerned Scientists, a great progressive advocacy group, has released a report on Restoring Scientific Integrity.
Everyone should check it out, and familiarize ourselves with the substance of the report. It is damning.
"Science, to quote President Bush's father, the former president, relies on freedom of inquiry and objectivity," said Russell Train, head
of the Environmental Protection Agency under Nixon and Ford, who joined the scientists in calling for action. "But this administration has obstructed that freedom and distorted that objectivity in ways that were unheard of in any previous administration."
It's pretty bad when Nixon's guy is criticizing Bush...
Some quotes from the introduction:
"The U.S. government runs on vast amounts of information. Researchers at the National Weather Service gather and analyze meteorological data to know when to issue severe-weather advisories. Specialists at the Federal Reserve Board collect and analyze economic data to determine when to raise or lower interest rates. Experts at the Centers for Disease Control examine bacteria and viral samples to guard against a large-scale outbreak of disease. The American public relies on the accuracy of such governmental data and upon the integrity of the researchers who gather and analyze it.
"However, at a time when one might expect the federal government to increasingly rely on impartial researchers for the critical role they play in gathering and analyzing specialized data, there are numerous indications that the opposite is occurring. A growing number of scientists, policy makers, and technical specialists both inside and outside the government allege that the Bush administration has suppressed or distorted the scientific analyses of federal agencies to bring these results in line with administration policy. In addition, these experts contend that irregularities in the appointment of scientific advisors and advisory panels are threatening to upset the legally mandated balance of these bodies."
Unfortunately, the report is only available as a PDF, but it is worth downloading and scanning. We have heard about a lot of this stuff (usually from Friday night "take out the garbage" exercises), but it is well summarized and integrated here. The report covers diverse topics, including:
- National Forest and public land policy
- WMD in Iraq
- Climate Change
- Air Pollution
- Litmus tests in political appointments
- distorting evidence on abstinence-only education
Read all about it:
http://www.ucsusa.org/global_environment/rsi/
Consider supporting UCS:
https://www.ucsusa.org/form/RSIDonate.html