Scientific Integrity in Policymaking
Encyclopedia
"Scientific Integrity in Policymaking: An Investigation into the Bush Administration's Misuse of Science" is the title of a report published by the Union of Concerned Scientists
in February, 2004. The report was the culmination of an investigation of the Bush administration
's objectivity in science
, and ultimately a critic
ism thereof. (After it was published, the report's existence was fairly well-publicized by the United States
' mass media
.)
. The report lists the following persons and organization who had supposedly acted or made statements to support this claim.
This list is sorted first by category, then by the order in which the persons or organizations are mentioned in the report.
, and is therefore of particularly grave concern to the scientific community." It then goes on, in a short section titled "Conclusions and Recommendations: What's at Stake" at the end of the report, to provide recommendations for "restoring scientific integrity to federal policymaking" (page 30). These recommendations (on pages 30-31) include a suggestion for the President of the United States
to issue executive orders, and other actions, that would prevent further "abuse"; for the United States Congress
to hold appropriate hearing
s, consider the consequences of statutory law
under its influence, increase the amount of publicly available scientific information, and establish an organization to guide Congress in its deliberations in technical matters; for scientists to raise awareness of the aforementioned issues and provide public policy recommendations; for the public
to exercise its political influence in a constructive manner.
, the director of OSTP, that claims the descriptions of the incidents in the UCS report are all "false," "wrong," or "a distortion." He said he was disappointed with the report and dismissed it as "biased."http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,62339,00.html.
Signatories of the original statement:
Union of Concerned Scientists
The Union of Concerned Scientists is a nonprofit science advocacy group based in the United States. The UCS membership includes many private citizens in addition to professional scientists. James J...
in February, 2004. The report was the culmination of an investigation of the Bush administration
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
's objectivity in science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, and ultimately a critic
Critic
A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...
ism thereof. (After it was published, the report's existence was fairly well-publicized by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
' mass media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
.)
"Suppression and distortion of research findings"
A central thesis of the report, according to the Executive Summary (on page 2 of the text), was that the Bush administration had behaved in ways considered to be consistent with the following three situations.- Epidemic altering and concealing of scientific informationInformationInformation in its most restricted technical sense is a message or collection of messages that consists of an ordered sequence of symbols, or it is the meaning that can be interpreted from such a message or collection of messages. Information can be recorded or transmitted. It can be recorded as...
by senior officials in various federal agenciesGovernment agencyA government or state agency is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an intelligence agency. There is a notable variety of agency types... - Active censorship of scientific information that the administration considered threatening to its own philosophiesPhilosophyPhilosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
- Restriction of the ability of government-supported scientists to freely communicate scientific ideaIdeaIn the most narrow sense, an idea is just whatever is before the mind when one thinks. Very often, ideas are construed as representational images; i.e. images of some object. In other contexts, ideas are taken to be concepts, although abstract concepts do not necessarily appear as images...
s related to "sensitive" issues
"An unprecedented pattern of behavior"
In "Part III", the text of the report posits that the aforementioned activities are unprecedented in the history of the United StatesHistory of the United States
The history of the United States traditionally starts with the Declaration of Independence in the year 1776, although its territory was inhabited by Native Americans since prehistoric times and then by European colonists who followed the voyages of Christopher Columbus starting in 1492. The...
. The report lists the following persons and organization who had supposedly acted or made statements to support this claim.
This list is sorted first by category, then by the order in which the persons or organizations are mentioned in the report.
- Organization
- REP AmericaREP AmericaRepublicans for Environmental Protection is a national organization of United States Republican Party voters formed in 1995. REP’s stated purpose is to strengthen the Republican Party’s stance on environmental issues and support efforts to conserve natural resources and protect human and...
- REP America
- Persons
- Ruckelshaus, WilliamWilliam RuckelshausWilliam Doyle Ruckelshaus is an American attorney and, several times, U.S. government official. He served as the first head of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, was subsequently acting Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and then Deputy Attorney General of the United States...
- Train, Russell
- Panofsky, Dr. Wolfgang H. K.
- Goldberger, Dr. MarvinMarvin Leonard GoldbergerMarvin Leonard Goldberger is a theoretical physicist and former president of the California Institute of Technology.-Biography:...
- Scarlett, Dr. Margaret
- Kennedy, DonaldDonald KennedyDonald Kennedy is an American scientist, public administrator and academic.Donald Kennedy was born in New York and educated at Harvard University...
- Bromley, Dr. D. AllanD. Allan BromleyDavid Allan Bromley was a Canadian–American physicist, academic administrator and Science Advisor to American president George H. W. Bush. At the time of his death, he had over 500 publications.-Life:...
- Branscomb, Professor Lewis M.Lewis M. BranscombLewis M. Branscomb is an American physicist, government policy advisor, and corporate research manager. He is best known as former head of the National Bureau of Standards and, later, chief scientist of IBM; and as a prolific writer on science policy issues.Following World War II service in the...
- Goldman, Dr. LynnLynn GoldmanLynn R. Goldman was born in 1951 in Galveston, Texas. She is an American public health physician, a pediatrician and an epidemiologist. She is the Dean of the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services....
- Ruckelshaus, William
Recommendations by the Union
Page 29 of the report states: "This behavior by the administration violates the central premise of the scientific methodScientific method
Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of...
, and is therefore of particularly grave concern to the scientific community." It then goes on, in a short section titled "Conclusions and Recommendations: What's at Stake" at the end of the report, to provide recommendations for "restoring scientific integrity to federal policymaking" (page 30). These recommendations (on pages 30-31) include a suggestion for the President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
to issue executive orders, and other actions, that would prevent further "abuse"; for the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
to hold appropriate hearing
Hearing (law)
In law, a hearing is a proceeding before a court or other decision-making body or officer, such as a government agency.A hearing is generally distinguished from a trial in that it is usually shorter and often less formal...
s, consider the consequences of statutory law
Statutory law
Statutory law or statute law is written law set down by a legislature or by a legislator .Statutes may originate with national, state legislatures or local municipalities...
under its influence, increase the amount of publicly available scientific information, and establish an organization to guide Congress in its deliberations in technical matters; for scientists to raise awareness of the aforementioned issues and provide public policy recommendations; for the public
Public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individuals, and the public is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the Öffentlichkeit or public sphere. The concept of a public has also been defined in political science,...
to exercise its political influence in a constructive manner.
Response
On April 2, 2004, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy issued a statement by Dr. John MarburgerJohn Marburger
John Harmen Marburger, III was an American physicist who directed the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the administration of President George W. Bush, thus serving as the Science Advisor to the President...
, the director of OSTP, that claims the descriptions of the incidents in the UCS report are all "false," "wrong," or "a distortion." He said he was disappointed with the report and dismissed it as "biased."http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,62339,00.html.
The report's table of contents
The following is a duplication of the report's table of contents.- Executive summary
- Part I: Suppression and distortion of research findings at federal agencies
- Distorting and suppressing climate change research
- Censoring information on air quality
- Mercury emissions from power plants
- Addressing multiple air pollutants
- Distorting scientific knowledge on reproductive health issues
- Abstinence-only education
- HIV/AIDS
- Breast cancer
- Suppressing analysis on airborne bacteria
- Misrepresenting evidence on Iraq's aluminum tubes
- Manipulation of science regarding the endangered species act
- Missouri River
- Manipulating the scientific process on forest management
- OMB rulemaking on "peer review"
- Part II: Undermining the quality and integrity of the appointment process
- Industry influence on lead poisoning prevention panel
- Political litmus tests on workplace safety panel
- Non-scientist in senior advisory role to the President
- Underqualified candidates in health advisory roles
- The FDA's Reproductive Health Advisory Committee
- Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDSPresidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDSThe Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS was a commission formed by PresidentBill Clinton in 1995 to provide recommendations on the US government's response to the AIDS epidemic. President George W. Bush and Secretary Tommy G. Thompson renewed the Council's charter on July 19, 2001.- History...
- Litmus tests for scientific appointees
- National Institute on Drug Abuse
- Army Science BoardArmy Science BoardThe Army Science Board is a Federal Advisory Committee organized under the Federal Advisory Committee Act. It is the Department of the Army senior scientific advisory body that was chartered in 1977 to replace the Army Scientific Advisory Panel...
- Dismissal of nuclear weapons and arms control panels
- National Nuclear Security Administration panel
- Arms control panel
- Part III: An unprecedented pattern of behavior
- Disseminating research from federal agencies
- Irregularities in appointments to scientific advisory panels
- Conclusions and recommendations: What's at stake
- Restoring scientific integrity to federal policy making
- Appendices
- EPA memo on climate section of the Report on the Environment
- USDA "sensitive issue" list
Associated Statement "Restoring Scientific Integrity in Policymaking"
At the time of issue of this report, the UCS released a statement supporting the criticisms detailed in the above report. This statement was originally signed by the 62 prominent scientists listed below. Since that time it has gathered support from more than 12,000 scientists.Signatories of the original statement:
- Philip W. Anderson
- David BaltimoreDavid BaltimoreDavid Baltimore is an American biologist, university administrator, and Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine. He served as president of the California Institute of Technology from 1997 to 2006, and is currently the Robert A. Millikan Professor of Biology at Caltech...
- Paul BergPaul BergPaul Berg is an American biochemist and professor emeritus at Stanford University. He was the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1980, along with Walter Gilbert and Frederick Sanger. The award recognized their contributions to basic research involving nucleic acids...
- Rosina BierbaumRosina BierbaumRosina M. Bierbaum is dean of the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment. She was hired in October 2001 by then U-M President Lee Bollinger....
- Nicolaas BloembergenNicolaas BloembergenNicolaas Bloembergen is a Dutch-American physicist and Nobel laureate.He received his Ph.D. degree from University of Leiden in 1948; while pursuing his PhD at Harvard, Bloembergen also worked part-time as a graduate research assistant for Edward Mills Purcell at the MIT Radiation Laboratory...
- Lewis M. BranscombLewis M. BranscombLewis M. Branscomb is an American physicist, government policy advisor, and corporate research manager. He is best known as former head of the National Bureau of Standards and, later, chief scientist of IBM; and as a prolific writer on science policy issues.Following World War II service in the...
- Eric Chivian
- Joel E. CohenJoel E. CohenJoel E. Cohen is a mathematical biologist. He is currently Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of Populations at the Rockefeller University in New York City and at the Earth Institute of Columbia University, where he holds a joint appointment in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, the...
- James CroninJames CroninJames Watson Cronin is an American nuclear physicist.Cronin was born in Chicago, Illinois and attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Cronin and co-researcher Val Logsdon Fitch were awarded the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physics for a 1964 experiment that proved that certain subatomic...
- Margaret Davis
- Paul M. DotyPaul M. DotyPaul Mead Doty is an emeritus Harvard Mallinckrodt Professor of Biochemistry who specialized in the physical properties of macromolecules and has been strongly involved in peace and security policy issues....
- Paul EhrlichPaul EhrlichPaul Ehrlich was a German scientist in the fields of hematology, immunology, and chemotherapy, and Nobel laureate. He is noted for curing syphilis and for his research in autoimmunity, calling it "horror autotoxicus"...
- Thomas EisnerThomas EisnerThomas Eisner was a German-American entomologist and ecologist, known as the "father of chemical ecology."He was a Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Chemical Ecology at Cornell University, and Director of the Cornell Institute for Research in Chemical Ecology...
- Christopher FieldChristopher FieldDr. Christopher Field is a scientist and researcher, who has contributed to the field of climate change. The author of more than 200 scientific publications, Field’s research emphasizes impacts of climate change, from the molecular to the global scale...
- Gerald D. Fischbach
- Val L. Fitch
- Jerry FranklinJerry FranklinJerry Franklin is an American football linebacker. He is currently entering his redshirt senior year at the University of Arkansas....
- Jerome Friedman
- Richard L. GarwinRichard GarwinRichard Lawrence Garwin , is an American physicist. He received his bachelor's degree from the Case Institute of Technology in 1947 and obtained his Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Chicago in 1949, where he worked in the lab of Enrico Fermi.Garwin is IBM Fellow Emeritus at the Thomas J...
- John H. GibbonsJohn H. GibbonsJohn Howard "Jack" Gibbons is an American scientist. Between 1993 and 1998 he served as the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.- Biography :...
- Marvin L. Goldberger
- Lynn R. GoldmanLynn GoldmanLynn R. Goldman was born in 1951 in Galveston, Texas. She is an American public health physician, a pediatrician and an epidemiologist. She is the Dean of the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services....
- Kurt GottfriedKurt GottfriedKurt Gottfried is professor emeritus of physics at Cornell University and chairman of the Union of Concerned Scientists. He is also co-editor of Crisis Stability And Nuclear War....
- David GrimesDavid GrimesDavid Michael Grimes is an American Football player who is currently a Free Agent. Grimes played wide receiver for Notre Dame.-Player profile:...
- Roger GuilleminRoger GuilleminRoger Charles Louis Guillemin received the National Medal of Science in 1976, and the Nobel prize for medicine in 1977 for his work on neurohormones, sharing the prize that year with Andrew Schally and Rosalyn Sussman Yalow.Completing his undergraduate work at the University of Burgundy, Guillemin...
- John P. Holdren
- Eric R. KandelEric R. KandelEric Richard Kandel is an American neuropsychiatrist who was a recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research on the physiological basis of memory storage in neurons...
- Anne Kapuscinski
- Walter KohnWalter KohnWalter Kohn is an Austrian-born American theoretical physicist.He was awarded, with John Pople, the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1998. The award recognized their contributions to the understandings of the electronic properties of materials...
- Lawrence Krauss
- Neal F. Lane
- Leon M. LedermanLeon M. LedermanLeon Max Lederman is an American experimental physicist and Nobel Prize in Physics laureate for his work with neutrinos. He is Director Emeritus of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois, USA...
- William LipscombWilliam LipscombWilliam Nunn Lipscomb, Jr. was a Nobel Prize-winning American inorganic and organic chemist working in nuclear magnetic resonance, theoretical chemistry, boron chemistry, and biochemistry.-Overview:...
- Jane LubchencoJane LubchencoDr. Jane Lubchenco is a Ukrainian-American environmental scientist and marine ecologist. On March 19, 2009, she was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the first woman to serve as the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration .While performing duties as head of NOAA, Dr...
- Michael C. MacCracken
- James J. McCarthyJames J. McCarthyJames J. McCarthy is a Professor of Biological Oceanography at Harvard and was President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science from Feb 2008-Feb 2009....
- Jerry M. Melillo
- Matthew S. MeselsonMatthew MeselsonMatthew Stanley Meselson is an American geneticist and molecular biologist whose research was important in showing how DNA replicates, recombines and is repaired in cells. In his mature years, he has been an active chemical and biological weapons activist and consultant...
- David MichaelsDavid MichaelsDavid Michaels is a pseudonym for the authors of novels in the Splinter Cell, EndWar, H.A.W.X , and Ghost Recon series, all of which were created by Ubisoft Entertainment and developed under Ubisoft's Tom Clancy license...
- Mario Molina
- Michael OppenheimerMichael OppenheimerMichael Oppenheimer is the Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs in the Woodrow Wilson School and the Department of Geosciences at Princeton University...
- Gordon OriansGordon OriansDr Gordon Howell Orians is an American ornithologist and ecologist. He was the 1999 recipient of the Cooper Ornithological Society’s Loye and Alden Miller Research Award, which is given in recognition of lifetime achievement in ornithological research.-References:...
- W.K.H. Panofsky
- Stuart PimmStuart PimmStuart Pimm is an American-British biologist and theoretical ecologist specializing in scientific research of biodiversity and conservation biology.- Professional career :...
- Ron Pulliam
- Norman F. Ramsey
- Anthony Robbins
- Allan RosenfieldAllan RosenfieldAllan Rosenfield was an advocate for women's health during the worldwide AIDS pandemic as dean of the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health....
- F. Sherwood Rowland
- Edwin E. Salpeter
- William Schlesinger
- J. Robert SchriefferJohn Robert SchriefferJohn Robert Schrieffer is an American physicist and, with John Bardeen and Leon N Cooper, recipient of the 1972 Nobel Prize for Physics for developing the BCS theory, the first successful microscopic theory of superconductivity.-Biography:...
- Richard SmalleyRichard SmalleyRichard Errett Smalley was the Gene and Norman Hackerman Professor of Chemistry and a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Rice University, in Houston, Texas...
- Felicia StewartFelicia StewartDr. Felicia H. Stewart, MD was a women's health physician and expert in the field of reproductive health.-Career:From 1999 - 2006 Dr. Stewart served as Director and Professor at the Center for Reproductive Health Research and Policy at the University of California, San Francisco...
- Kevin Trenberth
- Harold E. VarmusHarold E. VarmusHarold Elliot Varmus is an American Nobel Prize-winning scientist and the 14th and current Director of the National Cancer Institute, a post he was appointed to by President Barack Obama. He was a co-recipient Harold Elliot Varmus (born December 18, 1939) is an American Nobel Prize-winning...
- Steven WeinbergSteven WeinbergSteven Weinberg is an American theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate in Physics for his contributions with Abdus Salam and Sheldon Glashow to the unification of the weak force and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles....
- E.O. Wilson
- Edward WittenEdward WittenEdward Witten is an American theoretical physicist with a focus on mathematical physics who is currently a professor of Mathematical Physics at the Institute for Advanced Study....
- George Woodwell
- Donald Wuebbles
- Herbert F. York
External links
- Restoring Scientific Integrity in Policymaking: The Bush Administration’s Misuse of Science, February 2004
- Scientific Integrity in Policy Making: Further Investigation of the Bush Administration’s Misuse of Science, July 2004
- 2004 Scientist Statement on Restoring Scientific Integrity to Federal Policy Making