"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 The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is a nonprofit science advocacy organization based in the United States. The UCS membership includes many private citizens in addition to professional scientists. Anne Kapuscinski, Professor of Environmenta ...

in February, 2004. The report was the culmination of an investigation of the Bush administration's objectivity in

science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

, and ultimately a criticism thereof. (After it was published, the report's existence was fairly well-publicized by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

mass media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit informati ...

"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

information Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random ...

by senior officials in various federal agencies # Active censorship of scientific information that the administration considered threatening to its own

philosophies Philosophical schools of thought and philosophical movements. A Absurdism - Action, philosophy of - Actual idealism - Actualism - Advaita Vedanta - Aesthetic Realism - Aesthetics - African philosophy - Afrocentrism - Agential realism - ...

# Restriction of the ability of government-supported scientists to freely communicate scientific

idea In common usage and in philosophy, ideas are the results of thought. Also in philosophy, ideas can also be mental representational images of some object. Many philosophers have considered ideas to be a fundamental ontological category of bei ...

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 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.'' * Organization ** REP America * Persons ** Ruckelshaus, William ** Train, Russell ** Panofsky, Dr. Wolfgang H. K. ** Goldberger, Dr. Marvin ** Scarlett, Dr. Margaret ** Kennedy, Donald ** Bromley, Dr. D. Allan ** Branscomb, Professor Lewis M. ** Goldman, Dr. Lynn

Recommendations by the Union

Page 29 of the report states: "This behavior by the administration violates the central premise of the

scientific method The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century (with notable practitioners in previous centuries; see the article history of scientific ...

, 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 The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

to issue

executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of t ...

s, and other actions, that would prevent further "abuse"; for the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

to hold appropriate

hearing Hearing, or auditory perception, is the ability to perceive sounds through an organ, such as an ear, by detecting vibrations as periodic changes in the pressure of a surrounding medium. The academic field concerned with hearing is audit ...

s, consider the consequences of

statutory law Statutory law or statute law is written law passed by a body of legislature. This is opposed to oral or customary law; or regulatory law promulgated by the executive or common law of the judiciary. Statutes may originate with national, stat ...

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.

Response

On April 2, 2004, the

White House Office of Science and Technology Policy White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

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

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/AIDS The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) advises the White House and the Secretary of Health and Human Services on the US government's response to the AIDS epidemic. The commission was formed by President Bill Clinton in 1995 and each ...

** Litmus tests for scientific appointees *** National Institute on Drug Abuse *** Army Science Board ** 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 include: * Philip W. Anderson *

David Baltimore David Baltimore (born March 7, 1938) is an American biologist, university administrator, and 1975 Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine. He is President Emeritus and Distinguished Professor of Biology at the California Institute of Technol ...

Paul Berg Paul Berg (born June 30, 1926) 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 con ...

Rosina Bierbaum Rosina M. Bierbaum (born September 30, 1952) is currently the Roy F. Westin Chair in Natural Economics and Research Professor at the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy. She is also a professor and former dean at the University of Mi ...

Nicolaas Bloembergen Nicolaas Bloembergen (March 11, 1920 – September 5, 2017) was a Dutch-American physicist and Nobel laureate, recognized for his work in developing driving principles behind nonlinear optics for laser spectroscopy. During his career, he was a p ...

* Lewis M. Branscomb * Eric Chivian * Joel E. Cohen *

James Cronin James Watson Cronin (September 29, 1931 – August 25, 2016) was an American particle physicist. Cronin was born in Chicago, Illinois, and attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He and co-researcher Val Logsdon Fitch were aw ...

* Margaret Davis * Paul M. Doty * Paul Ehrlich *

Thomas Eisner Thomas Eisner (June 25, 1929 – March 25, 2011) 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 ...

* Christopher Field *

Gerald D. Fischbach Gerald D. Fischbach (born November 15, 1938) is an American neuroscientist. He received his M.D. from the Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University in 1965 before beginning his research career at the National Institutes of Health in 19 ...

* Val L. Fitch *

Jerry Franklin Jerry Franklin (born January 10, 1988) is an American football linebacker who is currently a free agent in the National Football League (NFL). He was originally signed by the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2012. Franklin played co ...

* Jerome Friedman * Richard L. Garwin * John H. Gibbons *

Marvin L. Goldberger Marvin Leonard "Murph" Goldberger (October 22, 1922 – November 26, 2014) was an American theoretical physicist and former president of the California Institute of Technology. Biography Goldberger was born in Chicago, Illinois. He went on to re ...

* Lynn R. Goldman *

Kurt Gottfried Kurt Gottfried (May 17, 1929 – August 25, 2022) was an Austrian-born American physicist who was professor emeritus of physics at Cornell University. He was known for his work in the areas of quantum mechanics and particle physics and was also ...

* David Grimes *

Roger Guillemin Roger Charles Louis Guillemin (born January 11, 1924) is a French-American neuroscientist. He 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 ...

John P. Holdren John Paul Holdren (born in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, March 1, 1944) is an American scientist who served as the senior advisor to President Barack Obama on science and technology issues through his roles as Assistant to the President for Science and ...

* Eric R. Kandel * Anne Kapuscinski *

Walter Kohn Walter Kohn (; March 9, 1923 – April 19, 2016) was an Austrian-American theoretical physicist and theoretical chemist. He was awarded, with John Pople, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1998. The award recognized their contributions to the unde ...

Lawrence Krauss Lawrence Maxwell Krauss (born May 27, 1954) is an American theoretical physicist and cosmologist who previously taught at Arizona State University, Yale University, and Case Western Reserve University. He founded ASU's Origins Project, now c ...

* Neal F. Lane *

Leon M. Lederman Leon Max Lederman (July 15, 1922 – October 3, 2018) was an American experimental physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1988, along with Melvin Schwartz and Jack Steinberger, for research on neutrinos. He also received the Wolf P ...

William Lipscomb William Nunn Lipscomb Jr. (December 9, 1919April 14, 2011) was a Nobel Prize-winning American inorganic and organic chemist working in nuclear magnetic resonance, theoretical chemistry, boron chemistry, and biochemistry. Biography Overview Li ...

Jane Lubchenco Jane Lubchenco (born December 4, 1947) is an American environmental scientist and marine ecologist who teaches and conducts research at Oregon State University. Her research interests include interactions between the environment and human well-be ...

Michael MacCracken Michael Calvin MacCracken (born 1942), has been chief scientist for climate change programs with the Climate Institute in Washington, D.C., since 2002; he was also elected to its board of directors in 2006. Early life Born in Schenectady, New York ...

* James J. McCarthy * Jerry M. Melillo * Matthew S. Meselson *

David Michaels David Michaels may refer to: *David Michaels (author), a pseudonym for the authors of novels in the ''Splinter Cell'', ''EndWar'', ''H.A.W.X'', and ''Ghost Recon'' series *David Michaels (epidemiologist) (born 1954), American epidemiologist and OSHA ...

Mario Molina Mario José Molina-Pasquel Henríquez (19 March 19437 October 2020), known as Mario Molina, was a Mexican chemist. He played a pivotal role in the discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole, and was a co-recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemis ...

Michael Oppenheimer Michael Oppenheimer (born February 28, 1946) is the Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs in the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, the Department of Geosciences, and the Princeton Environmental Ins ...

* Gordon Orians * W.K.H. Panofsky * Stuart Pimm * Ron Pulliam * Norman F. Ramsey * Anthony Robbins *

Allan Rosenfield Allan Rosenfield (April 28, 1933 – October 12, 2008) was an advocate for women's health during the worldwide AIDS pandemic as dean of the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health. Early life Rosenfield was born in Brookline, Massachusetts o ...

F. Sherwood Rowland Frank Sherwood "Sherry" Rowland (June 28, 1927 – March 10, 2012) was an American Nobel laureate and a professor of chemistry at the University of California, Irvine. His research was on atmospheric chemistry and chemical kinetics. His be ...

Edwin E. Salpeter Edwin Ernest Salpeter (3 December 1924 – 26 November 2008,) was an Austrian–Australian–American astrophysicist. Life Born in Vienna to a Jewish family, Salpeter emigrated from Austria to Australia while in his teens to escape the Nazis. He ...

William Schlesinger William H. Schlesinger (born April 30, 1950) is a biogeochemist and the retired president of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, an independent not-for-profit environmental research organization in Millbrook, New York. He assumed that pos ...

* J. Robert Schrieffer *

Richard Smalley Richard Errett Smalley (June 6, 1943 – October 28, 2005) was an American chemist who was the Gene and Norman Hackerman Professor of Chemistry, Physics, and Astronomy at Rice University. In 1996, along with Robert Curl, also a professor of c ...

Felicia Stewart Felicia H. Stewart (1943–2006) was a women's health physician and expert in the field of reproductive health. Education Stewart was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, with honors in Biochemistry. In 1969, she r ...

Kevin Trenberth Kevin Edward Trenberth (born 8 November 1944) is part of the Climate Analysis Section at the US NCAR National Center for Atmospheric Research. He was a lead author of the 2001 and 2007 IPCC Scientific Assessment of Climate Change (see IPCC Four ...

Harold E. Varmus Harold Eliot Varmus (born December 18, 1939) is an American Nobel Prize-winning scientist. He is currently the Lewis Thomas University Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and a senior associate at the New York Genome Center. He was ...

Steven Weinberg Steven Weinberg (; May 3, 1933 – July 23, 2021) was 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 interac ...

* E.O. Wilson *

Edward Witten Edward Witten (born August 26, 1951) is an American mathematical and theoretical physicist. He is a Professor Emeritus in the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Witten is a researcher in string theory, q ...

George Woodwell George M. Woodwell (born October 23, 1928) is an American ecologist. He founded several programs in ecology, first at Brookhaven National Laboratory then at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and then at the Woods Hole Re ...

Donald Wuebbles Donald James Wuebbles is the Harry E. Preble Endowed Professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. He was formerly the head of this department from 1994 to 2006, and was the founding direc ...

* 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 *

'

References

{{reflist Science in society George W. Bush administration controversies Climate change in the United States