Newswire:

Interfering With Hundreds Of EPA Scientists

Yesterday, the Union of Concerned Scientists released the results of their investigation into the politicization of the Environmental Protection Agency. It’s not pretty. [AP] [Union Of Concerned Scientists]

Of the nearly 1,600 EPA staff scientists surveyed, 889 of them — 60 percent — “said they had personally experienced at least one instance of political interference in their work over the last five years.”

31: Percentage of scientists at the EPA who say they personally experienced frequent or occasional “statements by EPA officials that misrepresent scientists’ findings.”

22: Percentage of scientists who say they experienced “selective or incomplete use of data to justify a specific regulatory outcome.”

17: Percentage of scientists who say they had been “directed to inappropriately exclude or alter technical information from an EPA scientific document.”

34: Percentage of scientists who say they were too afraid of retaliation to openly speak within the agency about their concerns regarding the EPA’s work.

Francesca Grifo, director of the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Scientific Integrity Program, said the survey revealed “an agency in crisis” and “under siege from political pressures.”

The Mustache of Justice, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., wrote a letter to EPA head Stephen Johnson yesterday saying the survey results “suggest a pattern of ignoring and manipulating science.” Johnson is scheduled to testify in front of Waxman’s committee in early May – we can’t wait.

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