10,000 EPA SCIENTISTS PROTEST LIBRARY CLOSURES

[michaelwb]

10,000 EPA SCIENTISTS PROTEST LIBRARY CLOSURES

In an extraordinary letter of protest, representatives for 10,000 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency scientists are asking Congress to stop the Bush administration from closing the agency’s network of technical research libraries. The EPA scientists, representing more than half of the total agency workforce, contend thousands of scientific studies are being put out of reach, hindering emergency preparedness, anti-pollution enforcement and long-term research, according to the letter released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).

In his proposed budget for FY 2007, President Bush deleted $2 million of support for EPA’s libraries, amounting to 80% of the agency’s total budget for libraries. Without waiting for Congress to act, EPA has begun shuttering libraries, closing access to collections and reassigning staff. The letter notes that “EPA library services are greatly reduced or no longer available to the general public” in agency regional offices serving 19 states.
....
“The Bush administration apparently decided that it was politically easier to close the libraries than to burn the books, although the end result will be the same,” Ruch added, noting that the EPA Administrator brushed aside an earlier request by the scientist unions to bargain about the library shutdowns internally.

In their letter, the EPA scientists cite library closures as “one more example of the Bush administration’s effort to suppress information on environmental and public health-related topics.” At the same time, other outside observers, such as the Chair of EPA’s own Science Advisory Board, are expressing growing concerns over the viability and coherence of EPA’s research program.

If you don't like the facts, hide them so no one can see them...

[IndyOp]

1. It is on the greatest page already... (n/t)

[IChing]

2. duh, we told him to post not many read that forum

[IndyOp]

3. duh? Lovely. The first line of his/her post in GD was

"I don't think that I've seen this posted around DU...."

On edit: To get the quote right.

[michaelwb]

4. Okay fine.

Sorry I had just cut and paste from my Environmental Forum post. Now I have removed the sentence to make it clearer.

So how about the substance of the actual post?

[IndyOp]

5. Great post! Simply amazing. Nibbled to death by piranhas. (n/t)

[michaelwb]

6. piranhas?

Well, that's no problem as long as it's not ducks!

Ducks, brrrrr....

[alfredo]

7. I heard a librarian speaking with David Sirota a couple days

ago at an event where he was speaking. She was really pissed about this.

[nealmhughes]

8. Don't need a bunch of over-educated librul libruruns (read Commies)

filling the guvmint's scientists with socialistic and UN (same thing) "scientific" research. All you need is a copy of the Bible! God's word like he wrote it, in English!

The Bible says we is to subdue the earth! It is ours! Global warming is false, but if it is true, think of all the corporate farms to be created in Greenland and South Georgia!

:sarcasm: :sarcasm:

Everything started going wrong with the wurld once they let people print stuff other than the Bible. Then people wanted to start storing all the stuff and use it to increase their "knowledge". the only true knowledge is the Word of the Lord....


Unfortunately, as an academic librarian, I have read rabid antilibrary types' posts who almost parrot my sarcasm. Iraq planned 911 by library computers! It's common knowledge: see the liberal librarians don't look over people's shoulders and they send internets to one another to plot stuff as they are too busy looking at gay porn and new improved abortion techniques -- when they aren't busy eating French cheese and drinking fancy microbrewed beers or Chardonnay from their monthly Hugo stipends...

[KoKo]

9. How much more of this crap are they going to try.

Disgusting.

[mod mom]

10. This needs to get to the top of the greatest page. PLS RECOMMEND!

Oops..missed that here is the link where it is on the greatest:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x60401

[mod mom]

11. Kicking for exposure to this important post. (other x post on Environment

[Egalitariat]

12. I can't believe there are 10,000 scientists on the EPA payroll***

nm

[lovuian]

13. Its Nazism at his best ... Hitler supressed Science and it was his

undoing!!!

[Reckon]

14. I think we've seen this before!

“The Bush administration apparently decided that it was politically easier to close the libraries than to burn the books”

[robinlynne]

15. getting rid of books. how can anyone have any doubts about who they are?