In his last state of the union address, President Bush glossed over the seriousness of some of the most pressing problems facing our country, and suggested they could be solved with something thatâs been in short supply during his tenure.
âGlobal climate changeâ got one brief mention, as something that the nation is committed to confronting with cleaner and more energy-efficient technology. Unacceptable rates of uninsurance and spiraling healthcare costs were obliquely referenced with a stated goal of âmaking health care more affordable and accessible for all Americans.â Bush invoked technology as the cure for our energy and health care woes, and said this about the energy, medical, and physical sciences research that’s required:
â¢Â “To build a future of energy security, we must trust in the creative genius of American researchers and entrepreneurs and empower them to pioneer a new generation of clean energy technology.”
â¢Â “We must trust in the innovative spirit of medical researchers and empower them to discover new treatments while respecting moral boundaries.”
â¢Â “To keep America competitive into the future, we must trust in the skill of our scientists and engineers and empower them to pursue the breakthroughs of tomorrow.”
In short, weâve got to trust the scientists.
Bushâs appointees seem to have missed this memo. Over the past few years, reports of Bush administration interference with science have rolled in with an alarming frequency:
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At NASA, a Bush appointee who lied on his resume tried to limit and shape Jim Hansen and other NASA scientistsâ discussion of climate change with members of the media.
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At NOAA, under an unevenly enforced 2004 media policy, public affairs officials denied media access to scientists whose work dealt with links between hurricanes and global warming.Â
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At the Department of Health and Human Services, the head of HHSâs Office of Global Health Affairs challenged a World Health Organization report that linked junk food to obesity and tried to quash a global health report from U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona because it failed to promote the administrationâs policy accomplishments. Plus, during his tenure, Carmona faced speaking and publishing restrictions on reports on stem cells, emergency contraception, and sex education.
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At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, director Julie Gerberding prepared 14 pages of testimony on the health effects of global warming, and the White House chopped out 10 of those pages.
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At the Interior Department, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife, and Parks altered scientific field reports to minimize protections for endangered species (and passed confidential information to organizations that have challenged endangered species listings, too).
In these cases, Bush appointees evidently didnât trust researchers or doctors enough to let them communicate their unedited views to government officials, media, or the public. (I’m not even getting into the many policy decisions – ranging from over-the-counter approval for an emergency contraceptive to Californiaâs emission standards request — in which officials ignored scientistsâ advice.)
Bush is right that itâs important to trust scientists as they work on pressing environmental and health challenges. Maybe if heâd followed this advice for the past seven years, our unionâs environment and health would be in a less sorry state.
Mind you, the President is actually more steered by his Administration. So often, I find that his people do things he probably doesn’t understand half the time. Cheney’s people are the ones who challenged the junk food study.
I think sometimes they give him a canned description of the blocking action and say, “Here Mr. President – sign this.”
It might help if Bush was slightly more intelligent and personable.
I agree that Bush probably isn’t aware of a lot of what his officials are doing, but he certainly seems to approve of the policy of pandering to industry and religious ultra-conservatives.
What we need is a president with better priorities *and* a better group of administration officials.
Exactly. I find it hard to believe that Bush is completely unaware of what is going on, so the “it’s not him, it’s his administration” argument doesn’t really hold water to me. We’re not talking about a few obscure decisions made by certain low-level staffers. We’re talking about decisions that are so momentous that governors from a number of states are suing the federal government. How could he not be involved on at least some level?
The man barely knows what is going on in other countries (like Dafur) until other people fill him in on it.
I don’t forgive him for being negligent and allowing his constituents run his office, because he trusts and appoints these people to work for him on greater levels than just advising him. If anything, I’m sure his Cabinet is pretty weasily when they also do things like try to cover up pertinent research. The office of the Vice Pres is pretty quick to evoke the powers of Executive as well.
The guy is ineffective. Not overly “common sense” bright, and not really willing to work with others outside his beliefs. It’s kinda hard to believe that such a lame duck can do so much on his own.