Monday, September 17, 2007
Scientizing Congress
At the suggestion of Mark Hoofnagle (and we kid about mispelling PZ Myearshertz' name!) I sent the following (shamelessly plagiarized from Mark) to my Congressional delegation:Congress is currently operating without any independent scientific analysis of policy. Any member can introduce legislation based on whatever set of "facts" any partisan "think tank" produces, even if by cherry-picking the scientific literature to suit its ideological agenda.
The Office of Technology Assessment was an invaluable, nonpartisan resource for both the Congress and the public that should be revived to counter the Republican war on science and the proliferation of junk science in general.
Our government should be operating from one set of facts, ideally those investigated by an independent body that is strictly nonpolitical and that operates with a mandate to at least set the bounds of the legitimate scientific issues our nation faces. Setting national policy based upon sound scientific grounds is the very least the public should expect from our government.
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