scientists concerned about political meddling

[10/21/18] Is the Trump administration applying undue political influence on scientific research?

Some Hawaii scientists are convinced that it is, and that’s why they support efforts by 15 U.S. Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, to investigate political meddling into scientific research or communications at the Department of the Interior.

“It’s for real,” said Robert Richmond, director of the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Kewalo Marine Laboratory. “A number of my (federal) colleagues say interference is a persistent concern under this administration.”

Hirono and her colleagues sent a letter to Interior Department Inspector General Mary Kendall this month asking for an investigation. The request follows reports of pressure by officials of the Trump administration earlier this year to edit out any mention of human-induced climate change from a National Park Service report on sea-level rise.

What’s more, the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists surveyed scientists working across federal agencies, including those working within the Interior Department, and found a significant percentage of them are concerned about the influence of political appointees on their work.

In June, Hirono was among a group of Senate Democrats that accused the Interior Department of delaying key grants while the agency conducted what the senators claimed was a politically motivated review of its grant-making. In a letter sent to the department then, the senators expressed concern over potential undue influence from a high-level political appointee given authority over the grant- review process.

Much of the concern centers around the Trump administration’s view on climate science, with the commander in chief himself openly expressing skepticism.

“I’m not a big believer in man-made climate change,” he told the Miami Herald during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Almost immediately after Trump’s inauguration, the Environmental Protection Agency and Departments of Interior and Energy eliminated sections of their websites that discussed the science and impacts of climate change.

Then in 2017, Trump announced his intention to remove the United States from the Paris accord dealing with climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, and began pushing for coal and fossil fuel exploration. Among other things, he rescinded the 2013 Climate Action Plan and the Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience, a group President Barack Obama created to prepare the U.S. for the impacts of climate change.

Richmond, the UH professor and coral reef expert, said he saw undue political influence during the George W. Bush administration but it was nowhere near the level experienced over the last couple of years.

“I’ve never seen such blatant disregard in any area as in climate science,” he said.