We will restore science to its rightful place and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality...(APPLAUSE)The remark was a nod to the Left's persistent protestations that Republicans -- specifically President Bush -- had relegated scientific data to a remote Right-wing corner somewhere in the interest of advancing a political agenda. Fortunately, science has been restored to its rightful place under our enlightened new president:
Academics, environmentalists and federal investigators have accused the administration since the April spill of downplaying scientific findings, misrepresenting data and most recently misconstruing the opinions of experts it solicited.
The latest complaint from scientists comes in a report by the Interior Department's inspector general, which concluded that the White House edited a drilling safety report in a way that made it falsely appear that scientists and experts supported the administration's six-month ban on new deep-water drilling. The AP obtained the report early Wednesday.
The inspector general said the editing changes by the White House resulted "in the implication that the moratorium recommendation had been peer reviewed." But it hadn't been. Outside scientists were asked only to review new safety measures for offshore drilling.
Change?