abaldwin360:

quickhits:

Republicans, corporations waging war on facts.

Union of Concerned Scientists:

The federal government is moving closer to protecting scientists and the integrity of its science-based decisions, but more must be done to protect the policymaking process from corporate influence, according to a report released by the Union of Concerned Scientists today.

The report, Heads They Win, Tails We Lose: How Corporations Corrupt Science at the Public’s Expense, chronicles the most common ways that corporations influence how science is used to make policy, from restricting the effectiveness of federal agencies to corrupting the scientific work itself.

Released at the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual conference in Vancouver today, the report details the extent to which inappropriate corporate influence on science has prevented the United States from using the best available science to protect public health and the environment.

“While many believe that political interference in science went extinct when President Bush left office, the reality is that the pressure to politicize science is still with us,” said Francesca Grifo, director of UCS’s Scientific Integrity program. “Many companies are prioritizing private gain at the expense of the public good, and abuse science to achieve their goals.”

The report includes detailed examples of the tactics corporate interests use, including harassing federal scientists, ghostwriting scientific articles to undermine federal research, and undermining how science is used to form agency policy in the name of “reform.”

“President Obama has put us on a path forward, but the journey is far from over,” said Grifo. “Fully neutralizing the problem of political interference in science will take persistence and the engagement of both government and the private sector.”

Unlike the war on religion, the war on science is real.