"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 criticism thereof.[1] (After it was published, the report's existence was fairly well-publicized by the United States' mass media.)
"Suppression and distortion of research findings"[edit]
Rice, Powell, Bush, and Rumsfeld
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 information by senior officials in various federal agencies
Active censorship of scientific information that the administration considered threatening to its own philosophies
Restriction of the ability of government-supported scientists to freely communicate scientific ideas related to "sensitive" issues
In "Part III", the text of the report posits that the aforementioned activities are unprecedented in the history of the United States. 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.
Page 29 of the report states: "This behavior by the administration violates the central premise of the scientific method, 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 hearings, 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.
On April 2, 2004, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy issued a statement by Dr. John Marburger, 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."[1].
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"[edit]
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.[1]
