The War on Science: Week 35

Every week we get more reports about the Administration’s anti-science campaign.

It was just another week in the government’s war on science.  Rather than editorialize about what’s going on, I thought it would be more useful just to relay what has come out in news reports over the last week. The facts really speak for themselves.

ITEM. On Saturday, we learned that EPA’s water division had told its scientists to pause publication of papers in scientific journals pending a “review.”  The order came from political appointees. There’s little doubt that the goal is to silence scientific findings that might call Administration policies into question.

ITEM.  A day earlier, we saw a vaccine review panel, which RFK Jr. had stripped of experienced medical experts, in action. It was such a clown show that even the chair of the panel “conceded in his Friday remarks that the panelists were ‘rookies’ on the technical parts of the job.” Medical associations and experts said panel members “were unprepared, misunderstood or ignored key data and highlighted flawed or inconclusive research often trumpeted by vaccine critics.” Perhaps realizing in advance that the panel’s findings were likely to lack scientific credibility, Kennedy had already fired the head of the CDC for showing signs of independent judgment.

ITEM.  Yet another high-level scientist is leaving a government health agency.  Dr. Nina Schor had served as the director of the NIH’s $5 billion research department since August 2022. The agency’s announcement said her departure  is voluntary and that she is returning to the academy.

ITEM.  Details continued to emerge about government grant cancellations.  A Georgia news story on Tuesday reported the earlier cancellation of a grant for containing “trans” and “expression.” The grant involved diabetes research involving “gene expression” and “translational therapeutic strategies.” Among grants reported to have been canceled in Utah was a study of the genetic diversity of pathogens.

ITEM. The NY Times reported on a wide scale Administration effort to limit data collection and statistic reports, on matters ranging from measurements of greenhouse gas concentration and emissions to tracking the number of severe weather events.

There you have it: the week’s reports on ithe war on science. I’m tempted to make this a weekly feature but that would just be too depressing.

biomedical science, environmental science, public health, research grant cancellations, RFK Jr., Robert Kennedy Jr., Trump Administration, war on science