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Government-Censored Science

By grrlscientist on December 14, 2006.

Apparently, facts are getting in the way of BushCo. But does everything need to be cleared by the faith-based intitiatives office?

The Bush administration is clamping down on scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey, the latest agency subjected to controls on research that might go against official policy.

New rules require screening of all facts and interpretations by agency scientists who study everything from caribou mating to global warming. The rules apply to all scientific papers and other public documents, even minor reports or prepared talks, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Top officials at the Interior Department's scientific arm say the rules only standardize what scientists must do to ensure the quality of their work and give a heads-up to the agency's public relations staff.

Cited story.

Tags
ethics
global warming
Politics

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That'll slow down the USGS! I hope their scientists go in for some civil disobedience: submitting absolutely everything and making sure that reports are complete, with all the necessary information in the appendices.

Bob

Cynthia Burack has a guest post on Zuska's blog that exploring the Christian Right's approach to Science, and the kind of thinking that is behind some of the political interference. Since there was recently a post (on Living the Scientific Life) about Mike Chrichton, I can't help but quote this piece:

A member of Congress, James Inhofe (R-OK), was on hand at the Summit to instruct the hundreds of activists present, and the no doubt larger audience reached by other media, that global warming is a nefarious creation of the United Nations.

Why did the UN cook up the idea of global warming? To "shut down the machine called America." In fact, we learned, global warming is a plot to destroy the US economy and to initiate one-world government--a goal not only of the UN but of the American political left more broadly.

The belief expressed in Chrichton's _State of Fear_ is quite similar; he depicts global heating as a Conspiracy bent on Taking Over the World. (Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Pinky?)