> > > We've known this for years. Now it hits main stream media. > > Steve > > http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/opinion/sunday/silencing-scientists.html > > print version: > > > September 21, 2013 > Silencing Scientists > By VERLYN KLINKENBORG > Over the last few years, the government of Canada — led by Stephen Harper — > has made it harder and harder for publicly financed scientists to communicate > with the public and with other scientists. > > It began badly enough in 2008 when scientists working for Environment Canada, > the federal agency, were told to refer all queries to departmental > communications officers. Now the government is doing all it can to monitor > and restrict the flow of scientific information, especially concerning > research into climate change, fisheries and anything to do with the Alberta > tar sands — source of the diluted bitumen that would flow through the > controversial Keystone XL pipeline. Journalists find themselves unable to > reach government scientists; the scientists themselves have organized public > protests. > > There was trouble of this kind here in the George W. Bush years, when > scientists were asked to toe the party line on climate policy and endangered > species. But nothing came close to what is being done in Canada. > > Science is the gathering of hypotheses and the endless testing of them. It > involves checking and double-checking, self-criticism and a willingness to > overturn even fundamental assumptions if they prove to be wrong. But none of > this can happen without open communication among scientists. This is more > than an attack on academic freedom. It is an attempt to guarantee public > ignorance. > > It is also designed to make sure that nothing gets in the way of the northern > resource rush — the feverish effort to mine the earth and the ocean with > little regard for environmental consequences. The Harper policy seems > designed to make sure that the tar sands project proceeds quietly, with no > surprises, no bad news, no alarms from government scientists. To all the > other kinds of pollution the tar sands will yield, we must now add another: > the degradation of vital streams of research and information. > > =================================================================
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