Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) told the attendees as a conference on scientific integrity that the “vigilant protection of the integrity of science” cannot relax after the November elections. But we need to be more vigilant about the science that informs national energy policy now.
Rep. Rush Holt explains how science informs policy that improves the lives of Americans, builds opportunity, and creates a fair and equitable society.
President Bush, along with members of Congress, is calling for offshore drilling as a remedy for high gas prices. But their arguments are simply the latest instance of federal policymaking that willfully ignores scientific evidence.
Last Friday, Science Progress kicked off the launch of its inaugural print edition with a gathering of distinguished science policy experts.
CLIMATE
Now even the Bush administration basically admits that it misused and suppressed global warming information and the scientists who purvey it. Is the battle finally over?
Rick Weiss argues that the orderly and unbiased testing of reality to see how things actually work—the art and science of science—has ever been the engine of better health, higher productivity and greater economic power, not to mention enhanced entertainment and leisure-time options. It is something of a wonder, he writes, that so many today eschew it, and so openly.
This week, Francis Collins stepped down from his post at NHGRI; members of Congress continued work on a supplemental funding bill that could include more money for R&D; the first World Science Festival kicked off in New York City.
SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY
Two writers claim there is no assault on the scientific information that informs public policy and don’t even bother engaging the facts of the case.
In a Washington Post column, former George W. Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson takes on claims that the administration has engaged in a “war on science.” He asserts that, “for the most part, these accusations are a political ploy.” Considering his qualifying phrase it seems that some of them are not ploys. Disappointingly, Gerson does not tell us which ones. Instead, he makes a careless historical argument to support his claim claim that liberalism threatens human equality.
PUBLIC HEALTH
Vaccine safety has grabbed headlines in recent months, as some parents, fearing alleged links to autism, exempt their children from vaccinations. Multiple studies have demonstrated there is no such link, but there is more to understand about how vaccines keep kids safe, and how public health ensure the safety of vaccines.
The Environmental Protection Agency continued its fall from grace at a Senate hearing earlier this week that investigated political meddling with the Agency’s toxic chemical policies. But in the midst of a rain of criticism, there were suggestions of future policy that could better allow the EPA to protect citizens from hazardous materials.
Attention in the news to conflicts of interest within the medical profession seems to be on the rise. This is an issue that deserves serious scrutiny, particularly given how permissive the attitude of the medical community has been so far.
SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY
There has been a near-complete breakdown at our central environmental regulatory agency under the Bush administration.
From the Chronicle comes news of a study showing some academic scientists may be adding their names as authors to papers authored by corporations. The study—published in the Journal of the American Medical Association—suggest the practice maybe all too common in medical journals.
COMMUNICATING SCIENCE
Contemporary rhetorical tactics designed to confuse politicians and the public about scientific issues are as old as antiquity. The methods are just as disingenuous 2,500 years after their invention.
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
The case of the mysterious disappearing search term is about so much more than one scientific database; it’s about how we talk about reproductive health.
On Wednesday, the House Committee on Science and Technology’s Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight held the first of what could be more hearings on the CDC’s failure to protect public health when it released a scientifically flawed report on formaldehyde levels in post-Katrina FEMA trailers, understating the health risk of extended exposure to the gas.
A quick look at some of the policy-related posts in the science and technology blogosphere: suggestions for best practices in science blogging; the need for more hurricane research; vaccines and public fears; and new research centers to study parallel computing.
The Washington Post reports that unions at the Environmental Protection Agency have broken with management over Administrator Stephen Johnson’s disregard for scientific integrity. The news comes only a two weeks after Johnson published the official explanation for the agency’s refusal to allow California’s emissions reduction standards, despite the fact that the ruling ignored the “unanimous recommendation of the EPA’s legal and technical staffs.”
Science Progress and American Progress's Doing What Works project teamed up to produce a set of policy proposals that the Obama administration and Congress can adopt to reinvest in the building blocks of American science, innovation, and economic competitiveness. Read the overview of the five reports.
Science Progress proceeds from the propositions that scientific inquiry is among the finest expressions of human excellence, that it is a crucial source of human flourishing, a critical engine of economic growth, and must be dedicated to the common good. Scientific inquiry entails global responsibilities. It should lead to a more equitable, safer, and healthier future for all of humankind.