“Science, like any field of endeavour, relies on freedom of inquiry; and one of the hallmarks of that freedom is objectivity. Now, more than ever, on issues ranging from climate change to AIDS research to genetic engineering to food additives, government relies on the impartial perspective of science for guidance.”
— President George H. W. Bush, 1990
On a wide range of issues the current U.S. administration of George W. Bush has set about to suppress and distort scientific analysis from federal agencies, taking actions that have undermined the quality of scientific advisory panels. This misuse of science has serious consequences for the health and safety of the world’s peoples, as well as the natural environment which provides life and sustenance to us all.
Across a broad range of issues — from childhood lead poisoning and mercury emissions to climate change, reproductive health, and nuclear weapons — the reactionary Bush administration (one of the most regressive governments in modern history) continues its destructive campaign of distortion and disinformation, censoring all independent scientific findings that contradict its pro-business policies.
As part of their mandate, Bushies’ in-house scientific advisory panel has set about to manipulate underlying science research to align results with predetermined political decisions; to undermine the independence of university-community nominated science advisory panels, by subjecting panel nominees to political litmus tests that have little or no bearing on their expertise, nominating instead non-experts or underqualified individuals from outside the scientific community, who possess industry ties and interests that are demonstrably contrary to the common good.
In many cases, the Bush administration has disbanded science advisory committees altogether.
The Union of Concerned Scientists has this morning released a report titled Scientific Integrity in Policymaking (in PDF form), a damning indictment of the interventionist policies of the current Bush administration.