So I am listening to Science Friday on NPR, just about my favorite public radio show. They're doing a roundtable on the Federal Government and Science:
As we move towards the Presidential election, Ira and guests look at ways to strengthen science in the federal government. How can scientists and policy makers make sure the president gets sound science advice? Are there ways to ensure that federal scientists can communicate their findings? And how can citizens encourage Congress to tackle tough science-based issues such as climate change policy and funding for stem cell research?
This week, the Union of Concerned Scientists issued a statement signed by several prominent scientists calling on the next administration and Congress to ensure that federal scientists have the freedom to publicly communicate their findings; publish their work; disclose misrepresentation, censorship or other abuses; and have their technical work evaluated by peers--all without fear of retribution.
Follow me below for some notes on the conversation that defy logic.
From the other people who post about science here you can expect, and you would be right, there was a lot of talk about political appointees rewriting reports that are not in fact scientists, pressure to tow the White House line even when the science doesn't back it up, and not even making public science reports we as taxpayers paid for.
But Rosina Bierbaum the Associate Director for Environment, Office of Science and Technology Policy dropped two bombshells.
One, soon after Bush took office (and she worked for the White House) she said down with the leading experts in government related to global warming. They were trying to figure out how to explain global warming and its causes to the White House. They crafted a sentence they all agreed upon that they thought would make their collective opinion crystal clear. From memory it was:
The single largest contributing factor to global warming in the last 50 years is human activity.
They sent off the memo and attached a ton of data (as scientists are wont to do). Never heard back. No questions. So they were surprised to learn from TV and newspaper reports we were pulling out of the Kyoto treaty.
Ok, this won't come as much of a surprise to many .... but what she said next almost made me drive into a telephone pole.
They pushed back on the White House's thinking. They were told (my take on her very polite words) to STFU and oh BTW, you know those weekly science reports you provide to the White House, we don't need them anymore. If we have questions we'll basically give you a call.
So we know the Bush White House doesn't really read or pay attention to the PDB and now we find out they don't even want the reports from our thousands of scientists and research facilities sent to them. Kind of makes you wonder how far their collective heads are in the sand.