Turning Back Our Future

This should chill you, right down to your stem cels. Jim
____

"President Bush Stifles Science, Researchers Say"

By Paul Recer

Associated Press
posted: 21 February 2005
08:05 am ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The voice of science is being stifled in the Bush
administration, with fewer scientists heard in policy discussions and
money for research and advanced training being cut, according to
panelists at a national science meeting.

Speakers at the national meeting of the American Association for
Advancement of Science expressed concern Sunday that some scientists in
key federal agencies are being ignored or even pressured to change study
conclusions that don't support policy positions.

The speakers also said that Bush's proposed 2005 federal budget is
slashing spending for basic research and reducing investments in
education designed to produce the nation's future scientists.

And there also was concern that increased restrictions and requirements
for obtaining visas is diminishing the flow to the U.S. of foreign-born
science students who have long been a major part of the American
research community.

Rosina Bierbaum, dean of the University of Michigan School of Natural
Resources and Environment, said the Bush administration has cut
scientists out of some of the policy-making processes, particularly on
environmental issues.

"In previous administrations, scientists were always at the table when
regulations were being developed,'' she said. "Science never had the
last voice, but it had a voice.''

Issues on global warming, for instance, that achieved a firm scientific
consensus in earlier years are now being questioned by Bush policy
makers. Proven, widely accepted research is being ignored or disputed,
she said.

Government policy papers issued prior to the Bush years moved beyond
questioning the validity of global warming science and addressed ways of
confronting or dealing with climate change.

Under Bush, said Bierbaum, the questioning of the proven science has
become more important than finding ways to cope with climate change. One
result of such actions, said Neal Lane of Rice University, a former
director of the National Science Foundation, is that "we don't really
have a policy right now to deal with what everybody agrees is a serious
problem.''

Among scientists, said Lane, "there is quite a consensus in place that
the Earth is warming and that humans are responsible for a considerable
part of that'' through the burning of fossil fuels.

And the science is clear, he said, that without action to control fossil
fuel use, the warming will get worse and there will be climate events
that "our species has not experienced before.''

Asked for comment, White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said, "The
president makes policy decisions based on what the best policies for the
country are, not politics. People who suggest otherwise are
ill-informed.''

Kurt Gottfried of Cornell University and the Union of Concerned
Scientists said a survey of scientists in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service found that about 42 percent said they felt pressured to not
report publicly any findings that do not agree with Bush policies on
endangered species. He said almost a third of the Fish and Wildlife
researchers said they were even pressured not to express within the
agency any views in conflict with the Bush policies.

"This administration has distanced itself from scientific information,''
said Gottfried. He said this is part of a larger effort to let politics
dominate pure science.

He said scientists in the Environmental Protection Agency have been
pressured to change their research to keep it consistent with the Bush
political position on environmental issues.

Because of such actions, he said, it has become more difficult for
federal agencies to attract and retain top scientific talent. This
becomes a critical issue, said Gottfried, because about 35 percent of
EPA scientists will retire soon and the Bush administration can "mold
the staff'' of the agency through the hiring process.

Federal spending for research and development is significantly reduced
under the proposed 2005 Bush budget, the speakers said.

"Overall the R&D budget is bad news,'' said Bierbaum.

She said the National Science Foundation funds for graduate students and
for kindergarten through high school education has been slashed.

NASA has gotten a budget boost, but most of the new money will be going
to the space shuttle, space station and Bush's plan to explore the Moon
and Mars. What is suffering is the space agency's scientific research
efforts, she said.

"Moon and Mars is basically going to eat everybody's lunch,'' she said.

Lane said Bush's moon and Mars exploration effort has not excited the
public and has no clear goals or plans.

He said Bush's Moon-Mars initiative "was poorly carried out and the
budget is not there to do the job so science (at NASA) will really get
hurt.''

=A9 Copyright 2005 The Associated Press

Two of the people quoted in the article are former Clinton
administration officials. That might color their viewpoint just a
little.