News Flash

“Bush Science” Leads America Astray

August, 8, 2003

Representative Henry Waxman of California just released a report detailing the Bush administration’s disregard of science. President George W. Bush, as the American Humanist Association has frequently pointed out, regularly ignores or willfully obstructs science that contradicts his evangelical beliefs or hinders his powerful friends in industry. He has taken numerous actions to distort or suppress legitimate findings in spite of the costs they inflict on solid scientific research. “The current administration’s reliance on what can only be called Bush Science is leading our country in the wrong direction on a number of critical issues, from abstinence-only education to faith-based initiatives to the environment,” said editor of the Humanist magazine, Fred Edwords.

Rep. Waxman echoes the criticism of many scientists, as the Washington Post pointed out in today’s story on the report. Important scientific journals like Science, Nature, and the New England Journal of Medicine have published editorials lambasting the administration for trading sound science with politically and religiously motivated findings. Indeed, a Science editor complained that science was “once immune to this kind of manipulation.”

The report points out numerous examples. Among the more infamous, fundamentalist Jerry Thacker, who has described homosexuality as a “deathstyle,” was appointed to a presidential AIDS advisory body. He was subsequently removed after public furor arose over his nomination. The National Cancer Institute also fell victim to Bush’s fundamentalist beliefs. Its website was changed to incorrectly tie abortion to an increased risk for breast cancer. And in congressional testimony, Interior Secretary Gale Norton failed to mention government scientists’ research, which found that oil drilling in the Far North might harm wildlife.

The comprehensive and informative report entitled “Politics and Science in the Bush Administration,” can be found at: http://www.house.gov/reform/min/politicsandscience/

Press Room