1. sheril
  2. AAAS Statement on Scientific Censorship

AAAS Statement on Scientific Censorship

By cmooney on February 24, 2006.

It wasn't much publicized, but the American Association for the Advancement of Science recently adopted a statement in reaction to the latest allegations of scientific censorship in our government. You can read it here. According to AAAS:

...censorship, intimidation, or other restriction on the freedom of scientists employed or funded by governmental organizations to communicate their unclassified scientific findings and assessments not only to each other but also to policymakers and to the public is inimical to the advance of science and its appropriate application in the policy domain;

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED by the Council of the American Association for the Advancement of Science that such censorship, intimidation, and restriction are inappropriate.

The statement also applauds NASA administrator Michael Griffin and NOAA administrator Conrad Lautenbacher for stating that scientists within their respective agencies are free to speak openly. So it would seem there's a strong consensus on this matter--but I think a lot of people are still waiting to see whether the problem actually goes away or not.

Tags
Politics and Science

More like this

The Hansen Fallout
House Science Committee chair Sherry Boehlert--who has countered attacks on science before--isn't going to stand for the current games at NASA that are being played to restrict scientists from speaking. In a letter to NASA administrator Michael Griffin, Boehlert writes the following: It ought to go…
Tripoli Six campaign's new and perilous phase (with Addendum)
The Campaign to free the Tripoli Six is entering a new and dangerous phase. On October 31 their trial resumes, with a death sentence again looming. For those not familiar with the case, The New York Times today summarized the situation in a strongly worded editorial: Five Bulgarian nurses and a…
Should Max Mayfield Resign?
That's the contention of a group called the U.S. Climate Emergency Council, whose protest--outside of the offices of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration--I attended yesterday. It's headed by Mike Tidwell, a writer and global warming activist who has a book coming out on all of this…
NCSE and other concerned groups call for renewed integrity in federal science
In his inaugural address, President Obama promised to "restore science to its rightful place." What exactly that place was became a subject of much discussion in the blogs, and we learned more on March 9, 2009, when the President issued a memorandum ordering agency heads to develop policies, under…

Bravo, AAAS! I look forward to a day when government scientists are again free to speak facts the same way everyone else in this country is free to speak their own opinions. (Opinions that need not be "reality-based", by the way.)

Posting such a statement on the AAAS website is all well and good. But, how is it the general public is going to be made aware of the issue?

Let's review:

NASA -- Administrator Griffin claims to want scientific openness; actually promises to change things. Unfortunately, the Bushies just replaced the infamous Deutsch with another flunky. Who will win out?

NOAA -- Administrator Lautenbacher claims to want scientific openness; denies any problems, however. No acknowledged problems suggests no changes will be forthcoming.

EPA -- Still proudly screening all scientist contact with the public.

On top of all this, Bush is severely cutting funding for science at all of these agencies. This is indeed a "war" with many fronts.