The Republican War on Science

By Chris Mooney, Basic Books, New York, 2005, ix+342 pp., hardcover, $24.95, ISBN 0-465-04675-4

Did you know that

• The "more than sixty" embryonic stem cell lines whose existence President Bush asserted on August 9, 2001 – or is it twenty-two as later amended – are sufficient raw material for any research, and anyway adult stem cells are just as useful or better for the same research?
• Though it has never met the challenges of a realistic test, the Strategic Defense Initiative system now being deployed will defend us against a swarm of enemy missiles from a major nuclear power – or at least a few missiles from North Korea – or maybe one stray missile launched by a terrorist group?
• Women who have undergone abortions have an increased likelihood of contracting breast cancer and mental illness?
• Condoms are ineffective in protecting against STDs or pregnancy?
• "Morning-after" contraception encourages promiscuity?
• Global warming is not taking place, or if it is, it does not present a serious problem, or if it does, the cause is not anthropogenic?
• Biological evolution is a failed or incomplete theory, and must be replaced or at least supplemented by intelligent-design creationism in K-12 public education?

Every one of these statements, and a lot more like them, is false or is, at the least, contradicted by the overwhelming evidence-based consensus of the community of scientists specializing in the relevant area. And every one of them is the official position of the current Bush administration, or of its allies in Congress, or of a government agency or panel.

Careful selection of facts, sources, or opinions to suit a predetermined policy is common currency in politics, and science has never been immune to this process. The author gives examples from earlier administrations, both Republican and (to a lesser extent) Democratic. But, as the author demonstrates in extenso, misuse of science in the service of politics showed an initial surge during the Reagan administration, and has reached levels previously unimaginable since the 2000 election.

In this much-needed book, Chris Mooney, a gifted and diligent investigative reporter, follows examples of scientific distortion in the name of policy from their origins in interest groups (mainly large corporations and Religious Right organizations) through the Byzantine labyrinths of Washington to establishment as government policy either in law or in administrative practice.

The author begins by defining methods of politically abusing science, which he defines as "any attempt to inappropriately undermine, alter, or otherwise interfere with the scientific process, or scientific conclusions, for political or ideological reasons." This abuse is manifested in a multitude of ways, which the author distills into eight categories:

• Undermining science itself.
• Suppression or prepublication distortion or truncation.
• Targeting [e.g., pressuring or smearing] individual scientists.
• Rigging the process [e.g., packing scientific panels].
• Errors and misrepresentations.
• Magnifying uncertainty.
• Relying on the fringe.
• Dressing up values in scientific clothing.

In four following chapters, Mooney traces the historical development of political science abuse. He begins with the strong anti-intellectual component of the 1964 Goldwater campaign, and the Republican anger that arose when nearly all prominent scientists who spoke up opposed him on account of his nuclear brinksmanship. Subsequently, backlash to the ban on the use of DDT, the birth of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the cancellation of the SST program led to the founding of the Heritage Foundation and like groups, and to President Nixon’s dissolution of the President’s Scientific Advisory Committee and abolition of the office of the presidential science advisor.

The antiscience movement grew during the Reagan administration. Stung by the scientific opposition to the highly profitable Star Wars program[1]--and especially by the disastrous and false-data-ridden history of the Teller-inspired X-ray laser–the movement found new allies in the Religious Right, whose incorporation into the GOP coalition was perhaps Reagan’s most brilliant achievement. As governor of California, Reagan had nearly succeeded in introducing creationism into the K-12 public school curriculum, and he continued to imply that he supported creationist and other Religious Right measures.

With the coming of the Gingrich Revolution of 1994, science abuse reached new levels. The highly competent, nonpartisan congressional Office of Technology Assessment was abolished in what Mooney calls "a stunning act of self-lobotomy." Subsequently, such scientific information as individual members of Congress could acquire was wont to come from lobbying organizations, and Rep. Rohrabacher of high-tech Orange County went so far as to say that "scientific truth is more likely to be found at the fringes of science than at the center."

Mooney goes on to describe the methods by which corporate and religious interests strive–with considerable success–to discredit scientific consensus that is deleterious to their goals. Those interested in the complexities of Washington political relationships and processes will enjoy threading through many examples. Among these are the battles on the harmfulness of second-hand tobacco smoke, global warming, the toxicity of agricultural pesticides and of mercury in fish, the effects of high-fat diets, the regulation of river flows tapped for irrigation, and on the Religious Right side, intelligent-design creationism, stem-cell research, sex education, and emergency contraception.

Along the way, Mooney draws vivid (though not necessarily flattering) portraits of some key players. Among them are Reagan science advisor George Keyworth, GOP tactician Frank Luntz, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), lobbyist Jim Tozzi, creationist Bruce Chapman of the Discovery Institute, and biologist and anti-choice crusader Joel Brind. But perhaps the saddest personal story is that of John Marburger, whose office could perhaps be best described by the title "Not Assistant to the President." A man of unusually strong background both in science and in administration, he has now had to bear publicly aired epithets such as "pathetic" and "prostitute" (voiced by Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner on the Diane Rehm show).

In a brief final chapter, Mooney proposes what might be done about the dismal current situation. Unfortunately, this is the weakest part of a very strong book. Though there are some routine specific suggestions, the author’s central point seems to be, "We must also mobilize the natural defenders of Enlightenment values: scientists themselves." But if we must defend the Enlightenment -- against what, the Dark Ages? -- we are indeed in a pickle.

Lawrence S. Lerner
Professor Emeritus, College of Natural Sciences
California State University, Long Beach