Where geek meets activist

The Union of Concerned Scientists has charged the Bush administration with a policy of distorting scientific findings to advance its political agenda.

"The scope and scale of the manipulation, suppression and misrepresentation of science by the Bush administration is unprecedented."

"We're not taking issue with administration policies. We're taking issue with the administration's distortion ... of the science related to some of its policies," said the group's president, Kurt Gottfried.

The report is scathing. These are the "Findings of the Investigation" as stated in the executive summary:

1.There is a well-established pattern of suppression and distortion of scientific findings by high-ranking Bush administration political appointees across numerous federal agencies. These actions have consequences for human health,public safety,and community well-being. Incidents involve air pollutants, heat-trapping emissions, reproductive health, drug resistant bacteria, endangered species, forest health, and military intelligence.

2.There is strong documentation of a wide-ranging effort to manipulate the government's scientific advisory system to prevent the appearance of advice that might run counter to the administration's political agenda. These actions include: appointing underqualified individuals to important advisory roles including childhood lead poisoning prevention and reproductive health; applying political litmus tests that have no bearing on a nominee's expertise or advisory role; appointing a non-scientist to a senior position in the president's scientific advisory staff; and dismissing highly qualified scientific advisors.

3.There is evidence that the administration often imposes restrictions on what government scientists can say or write about "sensitive" topics. In this context, "sensitive" applies to issues that might provoke opposition from the administration's political and ideological supporters.

4.There is significant evidence that the scope and scale of the manipulation, suppression, and misrepresentation of science by the Bush administration is unprecedented.

Interestingly, the report was released the same day the National Research Council commended the White House for a "much improved" plan to study global warming. Even accepting that at face value, it still is a study, which is the stall the Bushites and their fossil fuel corporate buddies and their flacks have pushed for all along. As even the article notes,

[t]he White House has argued that the causes of climate change have yet to be proven, saying natural factors could be as important as human industry.

It disregards a virtual worldwide consensus that human industrial activity is to blame for much of the steady warming of the planet's climate over the past century.

Personally, I never understood how Big Energy's line was supposed to impress anyone. If half the pain you're feeling right now is because a rock fell on one foot and half is because I'm standing on the other one, does that mean I shouldn't move?

At the same time, be sure to note the very real progress and unacknowledged victory: The nanny-nanny naysayers have been forced to retreat from is there climate change to how much climate change and from is there a human effect on the climate to, again, how much of an effect. They're being run to ground; the only question is will it be too late. The truth is, it's probably already too late to avoid serious affects - but it may not be too late to avoid disaster.

Unintentional Humor Award Dept.: White House science adviser John Marburger, who was "disappointed" in the UCS report, admitted that the complaint was signed by a wide assortment of prominent scientists, including Nobel Prize winners and recipients of the National Medal of Science. He called that "evidence we are not communicating with them as we should and I'll have to deal with that."

I'll bet. "Hey, remember that grant you were hoping to get?"