Scientific Freedom?

I've written previously about the poor job the EPA seems to be doing in fulfilling its job of protecting us from nasty things that might be let loose in the environment. There have been stories in the press about this administration's attempts to influence EPA decisions. Well, the Union of Concerned Scientists has released a study that supports these stories.

A year ago the Union distributed a survey to 5,500 EPA scientists; the response rate was 29% which I'd say is quite good. Some of the results:

• 60% of the scientists had at least one instance of political interference in the past five years
• 43% said that interference has been worse in the past five years than in the previous five years
• 49% felt that there were cases where political appointees involved themselves in scientific decisions
• 42% claimed to know of cases where commercial interests were able to get the EPA to reverse or withdraw scientific conclusions

There are a number of interesting case studies throughout the report which demonstrate the failure of those in charge of the EPA to exercise their duties.