There is a struggle in this country. Actually, it's a crusade, and science is the enemy. The battle that will ensue is the result of an increasing push by the Bush administration to misrepresent or ignore prevailing credible scientific research.
Enter Chris Mooney.
Mooney is a correspondent for Seed magazine, as well as a senior correspondent for American Prospect. His new book, "The Republican War on Science," just hit the shelves.
This book looks at the current administration's use of pseudoscience to fault mainstream scientific research on issues from evolution to global warming.
During a recent interview on NPR's "Fresh Air with Terry Gross," Mooney discussed the problems of the Bush administration's use of selective evidence to support religious or political agendas.
The selective evidence Mooney describes comes from conservative think tanks, such as the Discovery Institute and the Science and Environmental Policy Project. Such organizations pick at the inconsistencies in conventional scientific principles and theories, allowing policymakers to dismiss otherwise credible scientific theories held in academic circles like universities.
Spinning science is no way to create policy. Even President Bush's father knew this when he addressed the National Academy of Sciences in 1990. He said, "Science, like any field of endeavor, relies on the freedom of inquiry; and one of the hallmarks of that freedom is objectivity."
With the current administration, it seems that an impartial perspective of science may be a thing of the past.
This is exactly what Mooney has chosen to present in his recent book. But he is certainly not the only outraged citizen.
In 2004, the Union of Concerned Scientists published a report, "Scientific Integrity in Policy Making," which found "... a well-established pattern of suppression and distortion of scientific findings by high-ranking Bush administration political appointees across numerous federal agencies. These actions have consequences for human health, public safety and community well-being."
The report was signed by 62 scientists - a list which includes "Nobel Laureates, National Medal of Science recipients, former senior advisors to administrations of both [political] parties, numerous members of the National Academy of Sciences, and other well-known researchers."
These scientists, as well as Mooney, have catalogued the most egregious deletions, manipulations, and exaggerations of science by think tanks used by the Bush administration.
For example, the Discovery Institute is devoted to using the uncertainties of evolution (not scientific theories) to promote a revised creationist theory called intelligent design.
Yet, in August, during a line of questioning regarding the teaching of intelligent design alongside evolution in U.S. classrooms, Bush stated, "Both sides ought to be properly taught ... so people can understand what the debate is about."
Learning the truth about two sides of an argument is the proper way to understand concepts, but as Mooney said in his interview with Terry Gross, "We don't teach magic in physics class."
This is a pure and simple example of the Bush administration distorting science for a religious agenda to bring God back into the classroom.
Science is also suffering from a political agenda. The case in point is global warming.
The UCS report states, "Since taking office, the George W. Bush administration has consistently sought to undermine the public's understanding of the view held by the vast majority of climate scientists that human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases are making a discernible contribution to global warming."
Unfortunately, while the vast majority of credible scientists believe in the dangers of global warming, a handful disagree, such as professor S. Fred Singer. Singer is part of the conservative think tank SEPP.
In 2000, he appeared before Congress and voiced his scientific opinion that no evidence existed for global warming.
Additionally, in June of 2003, the Bush administration deleted critical pieces of information from the EPA's draft report on the environment.
The UCS report cites the four major deletions called for by the White House, including "the removal of any reference ... that confirmed human activity is contributing to climate change."
Ignoring climate change is part of a political agenda to stifle regulatory legislation for corporate polluters, auto manufacturers and others purely for economic success.
Distortions of evolution and global warming are just two examples of this administration's abuse of academia cited in Mooney's book and the UCS report. Their conclusions assert that research should be limited to academic, non-partisan institutions as a means of protecting credible science.
Failure to do so will result in catastrophic consequences - the intelligent designer will become angry and heat the earth, creating a hurricane that will destroy a U.S. city. Oops, too late.
Noah Lewkowitz is a graduate student in architecture. You can send him your distortions and exaggerations at noah.lewkowitz@asu.edu.
