President Barack Obama turned it into a campaign-trail talking point: He would end the Bush administration?s ?war on science.?
But four years later, as the White House shifts into reelection mode, Obama is facing the same attacks he leveled against his Republican predecessor: He is putting politics ahead of science.
Continue ReadingThe complaints about Obama?s record come after a pair of controversial administration actions in recent months ? and some of the president?s most ardent supporters are bracing for more disappointment.
First, the White House shocked the environmental community by overruling the Environmental Protection Agency and halting implementation of tough new smog standards until after the presidential election.
Then Obama endorsed his health secretary?s unprecedented decision to overrule scientists at the Food and Drug Administration and block over-the-counter sales of emergency contraceptives to minors ? a move that prompted 14 senators this week to send a strongly worded letter to the administration demanding to know its ?specific rationale and the scientific data? for the denial.
?I feel like I am in a time warp,? said Francesca Grifo, senior scientist and director of the Scientific Integrity Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. ?These were both issues that the previous administration wrestled with and came down largely where this one has. So what is all this stuff about scientific integrity about? When the rubber meets the road on two crucial issues, science isn?t driving these decisions.?
The administration, following a personal review by Obama, will soon decide whether to expand an exemption for religious institutions from new rules that require health plans to offer free contraceptive coverage.
And environmentalists are preparing for a long-awaited ruling from the EPA on controls on coal ash from power plants, worried it will be driven by politics rather than science.
The White House says each decision is based on the merits and that science did inform the administration?s actions on the emergency contraceptives known as Plan B and the smog rules.
?Since his first day in office, President Obama has made clear that science should guide administration policies,? Nick Papas, a White House spokesman, said in a statement. ?Not only has the administration taken historic steps to make sure that politics not trump science, we have put in place scientific integrity guidelines that agencies across the administration must comply with. Every policy decision has a wide range of criteria that must be considered, and the administration continues to ensure that the best available science and evidence is central to the decision-making process.?
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