Sabotaged Science in the Arctic Refuge: Interior Department Works to Undermine Its Own Scientists
UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS
Sabotaged Science in the Arctic Refuge: Interior Department Works to Undermine Its Own Scientists
By JOEL CLEMENT, SENIOR FELLOW | FEBRUARY 25, 2020, 12:22 PM EST
It’s been a long, tough road for scientists during the Trump administration—particularly those at the sprawling Department of the Interior. Interior scientists have been reassigned and marginalized by political appointees, their results have been suppressed, their funding has been choked off, and their programs have been threatened with closure or relocation. Those who remain on the job are keeping their heads down for fear of retaliation, diligently continuing to do whatever research is still permitted, and avoiding publicizing results that may draw fire from the Secretary’s meddling hallway... the Trump administration is ...now going after the very methods that scientists have depended upon for many decades to understand and accurately predict change.
...In an effort to catch up with the aggressive push to drill (in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska) the FWS(Fish & Wildlife Service) has led several studies to fill in the missing pieces. One of those is a study of the impacts of seismic testing on denning polar bears. The results will inform the ultimate decision of whether or not to allow seismic testing in the Refuge. Typically this decision would then be subject to public comment.
However, in a Trumpian twist, FWS has invited comment on the science itself:
“We request public comments on the value of the model and the associated methodology described in the peer-viewed scientific manuscript in assisting in the evaluation of the effects of future seismic survey proposals for their potential impacts to maternal polar bear dens.”
Now, to be clear, the scientists at FWS do not need public comments to do their science—they’ve already published peer-reviewed papers on this topic. The only plausible reason for the agency to seek public comment on the study would be to give agency leadership something to point to, on behalf of fossil fuel interests, if they don’t like the scientific results. Not a good look for FWS, and it’s pretty clear that political appointees strong-armed the career staff into this blatant attack on scientific integrity.
More here
https://blog.ucsusa.org/joel-clement/sabotaged-science-in-the-arctic-refuge-interior-department-works-to-undermine-its-own-scientists?_ga=2.119957323.234472049.1582738341-1962327327.1582738341
