Campaign Highlights Winter 2009 | Scientific Integrity

Text SizeA A A

Scientific Integrity Update - Winter 2009

Contents

Summary
As 2008 drew to a close, UCS released our scientific integrity agenda for the next president—based in part on your input—and shared it in multiple meetings with the president-elect's transition team. Together, we won greater protections from collisions with ships for the North Atlantic right whale, we issued a report card on the media policies at 12 federal agencies, and we released our 2009 Science Idol Cartoon Calendar. And for teachers, we have updated our scientific integrity curriculum guide and have a very special offer just for you.

Our Agenda for the President-Elect
The Bush administration has intimidated and censored federal scientists and has manipulated, suppressed and distorted scientific research. The administration’s assault on science has had serious consequences for a range of issues, including childhood lead poisoning, mercury emissions, climate change, and drug safety.

Creating a thriving federal government scientific enterprise will take a deliberate and focused commitment by the new president and Congress. At the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in December, we released a set of in-depth recommendations for the next administration to restore scientific integrity to federal policy making. The recommendations center around five broad themes: protecting federal government scientists, increasing transparency and openness in agency decision-making, reaffirming the important role of science in the regulatory process, providing high-quality advice from scientists and researchers to federal policymakers, and improving the monitoring of existing programs to ensure adequate enforcement of current laws.

At the same time, we released a set of 10 New Year’s Resolutions for the incoming administration to follow.

Informing the Presidential Transition
We put out a call to the scientists on our Restoring Scientific Integrity network last month, asking them to provide ideas for how the new administration can build a more robust and thriving federal scientific enterprise. Due to our expertise on this issue, members of the Presidential Transition Team recently sought our advice on how to restore integrity to the way science is conducted, communicated, and used to inform policy at the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, at the Department of the Interior, and in the White House itself.

Restoring scientific integrity to federal policy making will take more than just commitments from the new administration. It will take the persistent and energetic engagement of scientists and activists alike to make sure our recommendations are a top priority for the incoming administration. Please visit our website to submit comments, suggestions, or stories of political interference, so that we can better inform the new administration.

UCS Grades Federal Agency Media Policies
While federal government scientists play a critical role in protecting our health, safety, and environment, many scientists report that they are often discouraged from sharing their scientific research and analysis with the media and the public. Our recent investigation of the media policies and practices of federal agencies, entitled “Freedom to Speak?” found that some agencies effectively censor scientists, thereby impeding their ability to discuss their work with their peers and with interested journalists who convey research findings to the public. The report was covered by the Washington Post and other news outlets.

With a little determination, however, agencies can improve their performance. For example, some agencies—like NASA—have recently changed their policies to allow scientists greater freedom in fulfilling their mission to inform the public, demonstrating that it is possible for the government to do better. Federal scientists must feel free to speak out about research findings that impact our lives. We’ll need your help this year to encourage new agency leaders to improve their media policies. Please tell the agency administrators how you feel.

Whistleblower Protections for Scientists Make Headway in Congress
Scientists must be able to speak out when their data indicates a public health, safety, or environmental hazard and they find their research manipulated, suppressed, or otherwise politicized by government officials. But, in UCS surveys, more than 1,400 federal government scientists reported fearing retaliation for raising these kinds of concerns. Preventing political interference in federal science will be difficult to achieve without the added transparency whistleblower protections for federal scientists would provide.

Letters and calls from UCS supporters helped us take a major step toward victory in 2008 when both houses of Congress passed whistleblower legislation with wide bipartisan majorities. Unfortunately, the legislation died when House and Senate negotiators failed to combine their respective versions of the legislation for final passage. The president-elect has expressed support for whistleblower protections for government employees who report abuses of science. With the help of our supporters, we will work with Congress this year to pass strong whistleblower legislation and send it to the president’s desk.

Protections Improve for the North Atlantic Right Whale
UCS sources helped reveal political interference with a rule intended to protect the critically endangered Northern Atlantic right whale from deadly ship collisions. Documents show that that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), along with the Office of the Vice President, blocked these protections for more than a year. With only approximately 300 right whales remaining, time is quickly running out for the species.

Last year, more than 3,000 UCS activists called the OMB to demand that the rule be allowed to move forward. A victory for this endangered species was achieved when the OMB relented and allowed the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to issue a final rule limiting ship speeds in the right whale’s habitat to a far safer 10 knots. Unfortunately, the OMB did exact some concessions from NOAA, reducing the speed limit zone from the 30 nautical mile buffer recommended by NOAA scientists to 20 nautical miles.

Teachers: Receive an Updated Curriculum Guide and Get a Free Poster
UCS has updated its scientific integrity curriculum guide, a free resource for high school and college instructors. The guide contains a series of lesson plans, slide presentations, and activities designed to introduce students to scientific integrity concepts. You can download the curriculum guide here. The first 50 teachers who email us will also receive a free scientific integrity poster to hang on their classroom wall.

Scientific Integrity Cartoon Calendars Are Available Now
Last year, we invited you to help choose the best cartoons in the third annual Science Idol: the Scientific Integrity Editorial Cartoon Contest. All 12 finalists are featured in the 2009 scientific integrity calendar. The calendar is already gracing the walls of thousands of people around the country, including scientists, members of Congress, and people just like you!

This humorous calendar is a fantastic gift for scientists and non-scientists alike who want to teach others about the importance of scientific integrity through humor. Each calendar hung in your home or the wall of your office will go a long way in helping spur discussion about the suppression, distortion, and manipulation of science. Calendars are just $10 each, with discounts for UCS members and bulk orders. Order your 2009 Scientific Integrity calendar today!

Last Revised: 01/09/09