This is the last post for the Pacific Institute's Integrity of Science blog. We've really enjoyed our time at ScienceBlogs and think this is a great community. To quote a walrus, "You're such a lovely audience, we'd like to take you home with us, we'd love to take you home." At this time, the Pacific Institute is going to be refocusing its blogging effort to go beyond the work of our Science Integrity program and incorporate all the work we do: from securing safe drinking water in Africa to cleaning up diesel truck traffic in Oakland to making sure that international corporate social…

In her Aug. 12 column, "Paralyzing fog of certainty on climate" Debra Saunders asserts many things, including that money flows to climate scientists as well as climate skeptics. No argument there. However, she neglects to distinguish between the quality of research this money funds, asking, "Why not posit that there is such a thing as honest disagreement on the science?" The problem is, much of the disagreement is dishonest, hiding under a veil of science. Multinational fossil fuel corporations have billions of dollars riding on U.S. inaction on climate change. These corporations are behind…

Something else is bothering me about yesterday's USA Today article Science vs. politics gets down and dirty. It's the implication that scientists are speaking out because of political bent. Science policy professor Daniel Sarewitz of Arizona State University in Tempe says: "I think the opportunity to use science as a political tool against Bush has been irresistible -- but it is very dangerous for science, and for politics. You can expect to see similar accusations of the political use of science in the next regime." [...] And because polls show that scientists tend to be Democrats, Sarewitz…

This morning, hotel guests across the country this morning woke up to a chronicle of the divide between science and poltics in USA Today's "Science vs. politics gets down and dirty." There's no need to hit the complimentary continental breakfast for a second cup of coffee when your morning news starts The relationship (between the Bush administration and the nation's scientific community) hit a new low last month when Richard Carmona, surgeon general from 2002 to 2006, lashed out at his former colleagues in testimony before a House committee. Normally, I'd think the nation's most circulated…

Jesse Springer of Eugene, Oregon is the new Union of Concerned Scientists Science Idol His entry was our pick as well: Established last year, UCS's "Science Idol" is an annual editorial cartoon contest on the theme of science integrity. Last year's winning cartoon is here. Check out all of this year's finalists.

In a nutshell: "This administration's political appointees might be unique in their contempt for government scientists and the empiric process that shapes their work." Read "Frog by frog." Hat-tip to Michael Halpern

A number of voices have weighed in following this months revelation that Surgeon General Richard Cormona had been subject to widespread political restrictions from the White House during his 2002-2006 tenure. Many have held up the story as another example of politics and bias getting in the way of reality-based problem solving -- the Kaiser Family Foundation has even collected some of the editorials, and provides summaries. Of course, the Washington Machine being what it is, we now have the inevitable backlash. Accordingly, Fox News is attacking the messenger. It may, indeed, be a fair…

The Boston Globe's Jeff Jacoby had an interesting thought-piece in yesterday's paper. Did you hear about the religious fundamentalist who wanted to teach physics at Cambridge University? This would-be instructor wasn't simply a Christian; he was so preoccupied with biblical prophecy that he wrote a book titled "Observations on the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John." Based on his reading of Daniel, in fact, he forecast the date of the Apocalypse: no earlier than 2060. He also calculated the year the world was created. When Genesis 1:1 says "In the beginning," he determined,…

Would the oil and gas industry underwrite research that makes the plight of the polar bear seem, well, less dire? Does a polar bear swim in the Arctic? From NewScientist: Willie Soon of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and his colleagues question whether polar bear populations really are declining and if sea ice, on which the animals hunt, will actually disappear as quickly as climate models predict (Ecological Complexity, DOI: 10.1016/j.ecocom.2007.03.002). Soon, who receives funding for this and other work from Exxon-Mobil, has been attacking climate change science for…

It's been a while since we checked in with Flamy McGassy, but here's a toon from a couple months ago. Despite the Supreme Court ruling on C02, Flamy is unabashed in this episode: "Feeling the Heat." The takeaway message is that despite the Court's intervention, enemies of science-based decisionmaking still lurk in the EPA. However, it is admittedly dated: the two officials featured in this cartoon Willia "Kids <3 Lead" Wehrum and Alex "Kids <3 Rocket Fuel" Beehler had their nominations withdrawn the week after this cartoon originally ran in April. Connection? Probably not. Still,…

Earlier this week we noted that the Bush administration is continuing its efforts to rewrite history with regard to its stance on global climate change. From E&ETV: Monica Trauzzi: We've seen a change in tune of sorts from the president recently relating to climate change. Beyond this latest proposal, he also mentioned climate for the first time in this year's State of the Union address. Would you characterize this as a major shift in his position on climate change? Jim Connaughton: No. I would characterize it as a continuing advancement of the president's strategy on climate change. He…

In an interview with E&ETV last week (subscription required) White House Council on Environmental Quality Chairman Jim Connaughton managed to get through the entire interview without touting the much-used but much-cherry-picked claim that the US has been beating Europe in reducing greenhouse gas emissions That's not to say that there wasn't some fuzzy math-talk and a bit of revisionist history. Monica Trauzzi: You mentioned the near-term goals, what steps will the U.S. take to limit emissions in the next 10 to 20 years? Jim Connaughton: Well, in the next 10 to 20 years we are currently…

Here's a nugget to start the week: MediaMatters, an organization that works to expose bias, discrimination, and misinformation in the news, has put together a Global Warming: Misinformation Action Center. Bookmark it!

John Marburger, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and James Connaughton, chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality are still peddling their Feb. 7 Open Letter on the President's Position on Climate Change, a letter that plays fast-and-loose with the historical record. Despite having portions debunked cherry-picking data and misquoting President Bush, it showed up yesterday as an op-ed in the Leading the News section of The Hill under the headline President Bush consistently has addressed climate change issues. First off, note the difference between "consistently…

For those of you in the Bay Area, look for me on TV tonight. I just taped an interview serving as a counterpoint to the AEI and Pacific Research Institute-backed documentary "An Inconvenient Truth ... or Convenient Fiction?" Tonight is its World Premeire in San Francisco. Click here for the official line on the documentary. Barring breaking news, look for the story on San Francisco's KGO-TV ABC 7 at 11 tonight. If it makes the web, I'll be sure to blog it tomorrow. The documentary is presented by Dr. Steven Hayward. By reputation, it does not refute global warming, just humanity's role in…

The Seattle Post Intelligencer editorial page didn't hold back in opining on Monday's federal appeals court rejection of a Bush Administration salmon restoration plan. In strong and appropriate terms, a federal court has rejected the false ways the administration tried to revise science and the law to ignore the role of four lower Snake River dams in destroying salmon runs. The administration claimed the dams had to be treated as part of the natural landscape. A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled the feds had indulged themselves in "sleight of hand," manipulation and a uniquely "…

With a calculator in one hand and a red pen in the other, the White House Office of Management and Budget is in an ugly light when it comes to scientific integrity and policymaking. The calculator hit yesterday with a recess appointment that is directly related to January's OMB rule change (see "New Oversight Policy Bad for Science-based Decisionmaking"). With Congress out on Easter break, President Bush appointed Susan E. Dudley to serve as director of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in OMB. Dudley is considered to be the main influence -- if not the author -- of the…

In attempts to find climate changing culprits aside from greenhouse gases, numerous suggestions have been made. Some have been plausible but didn't match the data. Others were dubious. One, however, is downright devious. We're talking, of course, about Lex Luthor. The plays on "Inconvenient Truth" keep coming. In the tradition of "Brokeback to the Future" and "Must Love Jaws," some bright folks have mashed up the theatrical trailers for "An Inconvenient Truth" and "Superman Returns." Throw in a few Al Gore overdubs and you get "An Inconvenienced Superman," a movie where Lex Luthor is the…

Last week, Tom the Dancing Bug introduced us to a parallell universe, where Al Gore never won the Best Documentary Oscar. Click below for the full cartoon.

It's taking all weekend to sort through everything that happened last week, a banner one if you're concerned about scientific integrity. Thankfully, we can stream the past. The biggest science integrity news of the week had to be the House Committee on Government and Reform's continued investigation on political interference with climate science. From Chairman Waxman's opening comments: Since our first hearing on January 30, we have received over eight boxes of documents from the White House Council on Environmental Quality. The document production is not yet complete. But some of the…