Seven Major American Scientific Societies Rebuke Lamar Smith In Public Letter For Witch Hunt

[hatrack]

Seven major American scientific societies sent a letter to Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) on Tuesday, rebuking the congressman and defending a paper published in Science last year that Smith has been investigating in his role as chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

EDIT

NOAA has resisted turning over the documents, arguing that Smith’s inquiry — what another committee member called a “witch hunt” — is both politically driven and likely to chill future scientific inquiry. The letter, sent Tuesday by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Chemical Society, the American Geophysical Union, the American Meteorological Society, the American Statistical Association, the Ecological Society of America, and the Geological Society of America, echoed NOAA’s concerns.

“The integrity of federal scientists’ research published in the journal Science is being questioned despite a lack of public evidence of scientific misconduct. The progress and integrity of science depend on transparency about the details of scientific methodology and the ability to follow the pursuit of scientific knowledge,” the scientists wrote.

Smith has threatened to also subpoena Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker over the documents. It’s a telling aspect of the state of America’s scientific literacy that the head of the House committee that covers science doesn’t believe — or trust — scientists.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/11/25/3725782/scientists-scold-science-committee-chair/

http://www.aaas.org/sites/default/files/Intersociety%20NOAA_letter%2011-24-2015.pdf

[Wounded Bear]

1. More Repub grandstanding...

to excite the uneducated masses that make up their base.

Good to see the push back, but it shouldn't be necessary.

[NBachers]

2. These agencies are some total heavy hitters

[They_Live]

3. Lamar Smith is a jerk

and a coward. He won't meet with his constituents. He's scared, because he's a guilty little twerp. I condemn him in every possible way.

[summerschild]

6. Yes, he is.

The air he breathes is totally wasted.

[Doctor_J]

4. This is fascism folks.

The government threatening scientists whose work they don't like

[hatrack]

5. Lysenko lives!

[Nihil]

7. Fixed it for ya ...

"... his role as chairman of the House Committee Coven on Science, Space, and Technology. "