Scientists Decry Political Interference 248
RamblingMan writes "According to the BBC, the American Union of Concerned Scientists has put out a statement about the misrepresentation of date and a list of such interference by the U.S. government in scientific research. Besides the usual slew of Nobel Laureate signatories, they provide a number of examples besides the well-known example of the EPA's Global Warming Report." From the BBC article: "'It's very difficult to make good public policy without good science, and it's even harder to make good public policy with bad science,' said Dr Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment and Security. 'In the last several years, we've seen an increase in both the misuse of science and I would say an increase of bad science in a number of very important issues; for example, in global climate change, international peace and security, and water resources.'"
"American Union of Concerned Scientists" (Score:1, Informative)
http://www.ucsusa.org/ [ucsusa.org]
This is nothing more than an environmentalist wacko political action group. Take everything they say with a Costco-sized bag of salt.
Re:politics and science have always been intertwin (Score:5, Informative)
Re:what do you expect... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:what do you expect... (Score:5, Informative)
There are huge amounts of dishonest shilling in every branch of science where there is money at stake. That's just the way of the world.
Re:what do you expect... (Score:3, Informative)
Ok, I will tell you that they are "humanities" or "social science", sure science can be used on them (mainly statistical math such as epedimiology studies) but there tends to be alot of speculation about what the stats mean with no few tests available to differentiate between speculations (theories), especially in areas like history and politics.
The problem is not science as such, the scientific method is the best thing we have for understanding the natural world, the problem is the humans that perform it and politicians who contort it. In the "hard sciences" few get away with deliberately rigged experiments, and those that do don't last for very long. OTOH: A politician or corporate sponsor can silence or dismiss science itself when it does not fit the worldview they portray.
The idea that a bunch of scientists simultaneously invent problems to increase funding comes from politics (machevelian). It is in the interests of politicians and corporate captains to push this message onto the general poulation in order to portray the notion that scientific method as "just another opinion".