Proof: Republicans Hate the Environment

This ain't no tree-hugging wild accusation - it's now a scientific fact. Literally. And another Bush-pushed policy to throw on the pile...

U.S. Scientists Say They Are Told to Alter Findings
More than 200 Fish and Wildlife researchers cite cases where conclusions were reversed to weaken protections and favor business, a survey finds.

More than 200 scientists employed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say they have been directed to alter official findings to lessen protections for plants and animals, a survey released Wednesday says.

The survey of the agency's scientific staff of 1,400 had a 30% response rate and was conducted jointly by the Union of Concerned Scientists and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.

A division of the Department of the Interior, the Fish and Wildlife Service is charged with determining which animals and plants should be placed on the endangered species list and designating areas where such species need to be protected.

More than half of the biologists and other researchers who responded to the survey said they knew of cases in which commercial interests, including timber, grazing, development and energy companies, had applied political pressure to reverse scientific conclusions deemed harmful to their business.

Bush administration officials, including Craig Manson, an assistant secretary of the Interior who oversees the Fish and Wildlife Service, have been critical of the 1973 Endangered Species Act, contending that its implementation has imposed hardships on developers and others while failing to restore healthy populations of wildlife.

Along with Republican leaders in Congress, the administration is pushing to revamp the act. The president's proposed budget calls for a $3-million reduction in funding of Fish and Wildlife's endangered species programs.

"The pressure to alter scientific reports for political reasons has become pervasive at Fish and Wildlife offices around the country," said Lexi Shultz of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Comments

[terry]

I and most people I know are aware of the global warming, and it is a major problem.

What I am afraid of is all the people hop-along is going to kill on his next liberation plaN.

The president is not of sound mind!

Why would he care about the environment,when he doesn/t even repect another countries people?

He is responsible for killing 100,000 iraqi civillians.

Another four years,we may not even have an environment,if someone doesn/t wake up to the big picture.
sincerely terry

[Kevin Wohlmut]

NPR did an article about this on the radio today. According to NPR, the Union of Concerned Scientists were forwarded numerous copies of e-mails where Dep't of Fish and Wildlife employees were instructed not to respond to the study, not even on their own personal time. UCS noted that this was an infringement upon First Amendment rights. (The NPR article did _not_ specifically say that those e-mails came from higher-ups at DFW, however.) NPR interviewed a DFW executive, (name Craig **somebody**, I was driving and didn't write it down...) I thought his response was interesting. He didn't try to deny that researchers were ordered to change their data or conclusions. His defense was that there were valid reasons for the researchers' peers or superiors to change those things during review. He claimed that charges of falsification and political pressure were simply "wrong", but a recently-retired DFW researcher said the last six years were much worse in this respect than the previous 20.

[Guenter]

Before the global warming will struck in a way that it becomes unbearable, we will suffer from more acid rain which contains poisons
like mercury.
This will affect the farming and also the availability of drinking water.

Are these people really so uneducated that they think after the use up
of all available oil they just jump to another planet.
It takes more then two decades before any technical measurements will have a positive impact on the environment. This chance is now gone!

[tree hugger]

fuck the environment and liberals have no fucking balls. go suck your own cornholes bitches!