Letter to the Editor
Science Magazine
Published in Science MagazineJan. 28, 2005
Science and the Bush Administration
By Jessie C. GrumanScientists' current outrage at the Bush administration's assault on science in the U.S. is understandable but might miss the real threat — the administration's subtle yet deliberate redefinition of accepted principles of what constitutes good evidence to guide policy development. For example, the Data Quality Act, signed into law in the 2000 omnibus spending bill, gives the Office of Management and Budget license to arbitrarily vary the quality standards for evidence for regulations. Since then, the Act has been used by industry and special interest groups to challenge health and safety warnings about smokeless tobacco, sugar, fertilizer, and asbestos; findings about climate change; and regulations about endangered species.
It is acceptable for politicians to say, "We have examined the scientific evidence on this question and have weighed it against other concerns of our constituencies and public interests in making this policy." It is not acceptable for them to arbitrarily change standards of evidence to favor their ideological or campaign contributors' interests. We must denounce such violations by political operatives lest science become a set of truths subject to change every 4 years.
It is an evidence-based truism that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. So there is no reason to believe that the behavior of the administration that has so perturbed the scientific community will change in the coming years. Therefore, it is critical that scientists organize, choose their battles carefully, and guard against self-serving advocacy that undermines science as an objective tool to guide decisions about medicine, public health, safety, the environment, economic development, and national security.
