The Bush Administration Would Shock Even George Orwell
“Science, like any field of endeavor, relies on freedom of inquiry; and one of the hallmarks of that freedom is objectivity. Now, more than ever, on issues ranging from climate change to AIDS research to genetic engineering to food additives, government relies on the impartial perspective of science for guidance.”
President George H. W. Bush, 1990, in remarks to the National Academy of Sciences
Rather than being content with just lying, the Bush Administration wants to change what is considered true. It is corrupting the process of empiric data gathering and data analysis, by replacing scientific experts on government panels with political and industry hacks, and by falsifying data to suit its aims. For example, on the Center for Disease Control's Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention, the Bush Administration replaced renown experts on the effects of lead poisoning in children with lead industry representatives. The lead industry representatives felt it was safe for children to consume many times more lead than health experts advocated, though health research has demonstrated that these higher lead levels cause brain damage in children. Or in another example, the Environmental Protecton Agency changed the data on environmental damage caused by "hydraulic fracturing" to benefit Halliburton.
Read all about it in the this report, "Politics and Science in the Bush Administration," by congressional staffers for Rep. Henry Waxman (D., CA). If you are disturbed by this report (and you will be) , please send the URL of the report on to friends and to your congressional representatives, to help bring this to public attention.
