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[Phys-L] more scientific integrity problems



From AP:

Philip Cooney, who was chief of staff of the White House Council on
Environmental Quality, left Friday, two days after it was revealed
that he had edited administration reports on climate change in 2002
and 2003.

Based on documents provided to the Government Accountability Project,
a nonprofit group that helps whistle-blowers, The New York Times
first reported Wednesday that Cooney made changes in several federal
environmental reports. The changes tended to emphasize the
uncertainty of evidence that greenhouse-gas emissions are causing
global temperatures to rise. Cooney, a lawyer without a background in
science, once headed the oil industry's lobbying on climate change.

His departure was "completely unrelated" to the disclosure, White
House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

Suuuure it was.

The White House defended the changes, saying they were part of the
normal, wide-ranging review process and did not violate an
administration pledge to rely on sound science.

We know what that pledge is worth.

It reminds me of the report from the Union of Concerned Scientists,
http://www.ucsusa.org/documents/Scientific_Integrity_in_Policy_Making_July_2004.pdf
which says in part:

Since the release of the [first] UCS report in February, the
administration has continued to undermine the integrity of science
in policy making, seemingly unchecked. Many scientists have
spoken out about their frustration with an administration that
has undermined the quality of the science that informs policy
making by suppressing, distorting, or manipulating the work done
by scientists at federal agencies and on scientific advisory
panels.
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