CPR President Rena Steinzor and Member Scholar Wendy Wagner authored an op-ed in Monday’s Austin American-Statesman and Cleveland’s Plain Dealer with recommendations for President Obama’s initiative for “science integrity.” On March 9, the President had instructed John Holdren, the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), to develop a plan to achieve a goal of “ensuring the highest level of integrity in all aspects of the executive branch’s involvement with scientific and technological processes.”
Steinzor and Wagner write that the plan should be broad enough to address more than just the dirty science of the Bush Administration:
During the Bush years, it was all too common for administration appointees to suppress or reshape scientific findings. But ending manipulation by political appointees is the low-hanging fruit of the bid to restore science to its rightful role in policymaking. It absolutely needs to be picked, but there’s much more to harvest. Indeed, the problem predates Bush, and Obama’s solution will need to go beyond rooting out the most egregious habits of his predecessor.
Holdren was given 120 days to formulate the plan. He has his work cut out for him.
