DOES THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION "DISDAIN [SCIENTIFIC] RESEARCH THAT INCONVENIENCES IT?"

The Union of Concerned Scientists recently released a report that details many of the abuses of the Bush administration in discounting good science for the sake of its political policies. Some examples from the report:

The administration misrepresented the findings of the National Academy of Sciences and other experts on climate change. It meddled with the discussion of climate change in an Environmental Protection Agency report until the EPA eliminated that section. It suppressed another EPA study that showed that the administration's proposed Clear Skies Act would do less than current law to reduce air pollution and mercury contamination of fish. It even dropped independent scientists from advisory committees on lead poisoning and drug abuse in favor of ones with ties to industry.

Scientific American In-Depth goes on to list several more examples of its own. To name a couple of those--HHS removed information from its website that did not support the Bush administration's position on abstinence-only sex education programs; OMB proposed ending peer review for funding of science that bears on environmental and health regulations as it now exists, thus essentially allowing industry and corporate scientists to make approval or disapproval of the research conducted by EPA.