From the Thursday Post-Dispatch
Hundreds of Environmental Protection Agency scientists say they have been pressured by superiors to skew their findings, according to a survey released Wednesday by an advocacy group.
The Union of Concerned Scientists said more than half of the nearly 1,600 EPA staff scientists who responded online to a detailed questionnaire reported they had experienced incidents of political interference in their work.
Now we come to the good part:
Asked to respond to the survey, EPA spokesman Shradar said, “We have the best scientists in the world at EPA.”
How’s that for a non sequitur? It would make more sense if the writer, Josef Hebert, had added the rest of the quote: “But we don’t have to listen to them.”
Usually, I’m irate that journalists play “he said/she said”, quoting generals, CEOs and other establishment types as if they had any credibility. And at first I figured that’s what Hebert intended to do in this case. But then I got to thinking about it, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he took some sly joy in quoting Shradar. I mean, how much stupider could that Bush spokeshole have made himself look? But Hebert can shrug innocently and say, “I didn’t force the guy to sound like a nincompoop. All I did was quote him.”
This report on suppression of good science and coercion of government scientists is a hallmark of the Bush Administration.
A highly revealing book, “The Republican War on Science” by Chris Mooney, published in 2005, details this appalling behavior of this Administration. I bought a hardcover edition if you wish to loan it.
The book describes how Congresswoman JoAnn Emerson played an important role in hamstringing government regulatory agencies by getting the Data Quality Act passed at the behest of industry lobbyist, Jim Tozzi. This makes it much harder to regulate polluting industries, if I recall correctly. There’s a wealth of information on-line if you search for it.
Regards,
Martin Pion
that we probably haven’t even begun to see the depths of damage that Bush et al. have done to the country. In almost every corner of government, including ones that I don’t even think about, they twist all the rules so as best help their cronies gain power.