Concerned About Science

The Union of Concerned Scientists emails me fairly regularly with news items and calls to action-- one of the benefits of being a C-list blogger, I guess. This week's is a "Call your Senator" item opposing Executive Order 13422:

Government agencies need to use the best available science to protect our health--setting standards that limit toxins in our drinking water and pollutants in the air we breathe. But a recent presidential directive would give the White House excessive control over the work of federal agencies, making science more vulnerable to political interference. Unless something is done, this directive will embed political appointees inside federal scientific agencies where they could more easily prevent inconvenient science from ever seeing the light of day.

I don't consistently pass these on, but this is a marginally more reprehensible executive order than most. Scientists, even government scientists, shouldn't have to answer to political commissars before releasing their results, and it's a rare climatologist who can snap the neck of his government minder and then claim that he slipped on spilled tea just before a press conference.

My Senators are Chuck Schumer and Hilary Clinton, so it doesn't really matter much if I call them or not. If you live somewhere with more wobbly representation, you might want to drop them a line.

(This might be too late already, but what the hell...)