An Article: Discuss

[jondy]

A survey of government scientists appears to confirm that science plays second fiddle to politics in at least one government agency.

Half the scientists from the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) who responded to the survey said they had been pushed to alter or withdraw scientific findings relating to species protection for political reasons. Around a third said they were not allowed to do their job as scientists.

"Political interference with science has become pervasive", says Lexi Shultz at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington DC, which produced the report with Public Employees for Enviromental Responsibility ( PEER ), a DC-based group that represents government whistleblowers. " We think that this is a very widespread problem. We don't think this is isolated to the FWS. "

Around 400 of the 1400 scientists at the FWS responded to the survey, and 42 percent of these said they could not openly express concerns outside the agency for "fear of retaliation". Nearly a third felt they could not do this even within the confines of the FWS.

One high profile case may have contributed to their fears. Andy Eler, an FWS expert on the Florida panther, publicly accused his employers of knowingly using out-of-date science in decisions on whether to allow development that might impinge on the panther. "What's going on in Florida is a huge development boom" says Jeff Ruch, an employment lawyer with PEER. "The FWS is doing its best to get out of the way of that." Eller was sacked in November. The FWS says it was because he missed performance targets. He ( Eller ) says it was because he spoke out.

6char.

 

[K e r b e r o s]

Wow ... this is odd.

 

[RZAL]

It happens on all levels of govenerment, I think its called politics.