This is a heady day. For the first time, perhaps, we can actually say that the Bush administration, charged with some type of interference with science, has responded by cleaning up its act, rather than by denying or ignoring that the problem exists. Alas, it's really only a small sliver of the administration that is behaving in such a constructive manner. Nevertheless, it's a start. The agency to be commended appears to be NASA, which is going to let its scientists speak freely (as long as they don't claim to represent the agency) and which is being praised by said scientists for doing so. James Hansen, for one, appears satisfied: He sent around an email saying he's going to stop stumping on the integrity-of-science issue and get back to real research. NASA presents an interesting case study, especially since it now stands out from the rest of the Bush administration in this respect. After all, as Rick Piltz and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility have pointed out, EPA has been entirely unshaken by recent revelations and says it will continue screening all press requests for interviews of agency scientists. Why is NASA different? I don't know much about the agency's own culture, so I can't speak to that. But I can say the following: 1) The clampdown on James Hansen got a lot of negative media attention, and without negative media attention, reforms of this sort rarely happen; 2) For once, the chief House Republican with oversight over the agency in question (NASA) actually decided to kick some butt over science-politics problems. I'm referring to Sherwood Boehlert, who asked NASA what the heck was going on when the Hansen story hit the news. Not surprisingly, this actually prompted a constructive response. If we want the science-politics situation in the Bush administration to improve, then, there are at least two necessary ingredients: We need more scientists willing to speak out and journalists willing to cover their stories; and we need the GOP Congress to start taking a real interest in this problem. Alas, in general I suspect the former is much more likely to occur than the latter.
P.S.: We should add, as GrrlScientist already noted, that NASA also appears to be walking the walk with its press releases, which now actually acknowledge straight up that global warming is underway.
