"The Republican War on Science" is the title of a 2005 book in which Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Mooney argues that the US government has been distorting scientific findings for its own political goals for twenty years.
Now some observers in the US are talking about the "war on science" again. It has reached a new level just three weeks into Donald Trump's term, says lawyer Lauren Kurtz.
Together with Columbia University in New York and the "Climate Science Legal Defense Fund" she launched the "Science Suppression Counter" initiative, which aims to show how the US government changes or influences scientific research, reports the German public-law media outlet ARD.
Even during Trump's first term, scientists have identified how influencing science legitimizes a different policy in the areas of health and the environment. According to the analysis by Lauren Kurz and her colleague Romani Webb, this includes funding restrictions, personnel changes, censorship and attempts at censorship by the government, self-censorship by scientists, obstruction of scientific research, as well as distortion and misrepresentation of scientific results.
They fire employees, take down publications, delete data
ARD points to two specific examples: In a geological study commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior, scientists were only supposed to assess the effects of climate change up to 2040. In the second case, scientists had to delete certain information from a study of fish and wildlife populations.
We are currently witnessing "much more aggressive" attempts at influence, says Kurz. According to her study, nearly half of the employees of the National Science Foundation - a government agency that deals with scientific research and education - are threatened with dismissal.
In addition, about 170 employees of the Environmental Protection Agency were dismissed. The budget of one of the largest public medical research institutes - the National Institutes of Health - has been reduced, and according to Trump's order, all business trips of employees at the institute have been stopped.
"In addition, they are encroaching on medical research much more sharply than before," assures Kurz, quoted by ARD. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been ordered not to publish its work or to remove it from the Internet. Data related to gender and transgender issues have been deleted or changed from the website.
"They are changing the way this data is presented. It is no longer what people answered in the surveys. The presentation of scientific results is being distorted," says the lawyer.
Trump's actions will also affect Europe
The new US administration's attitude towards scientific activity is also affecting research in Europe. If these decisions by Trump survive the expected legal procedures, the restrictions in the US could even become an advantage for Germany. "Because researchers who no longer see any prospects in the US will look elsewhere for their scientific research. And Germany is well positioned in this respect," explains Christina Beck, spokeswoman for the Max Planck Institute.
At the same time, however, Europe, including Germany, must bear in mind that the United States currently funds less research in the field of climate or health and more in the field of artificial intelligence. "We will probably see more funds mobilized for science in some areas, including artificial intelligence. Europe simply cannot afford to fall behind in this area," warns Beck.
Limiting scientific research always has consequences for society as a whole: after all, without new scientific discoveries, solutions to urgent problems such as climate change or global health pandemics cannot be found, ARD emphasizes.
Author: Anna Dannecker ARD