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USDA Scrambles To Ease Concerns After Researchers Were Ordered To Stop Publishing Publicly Funded Science (popsci.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the silence-speaks-volumes dept.

Layzej writes: Popular Science reports that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is now barred from communicating with the public. [And early this morning, BuzzFeed revealed that] The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has banned scientists and other employees from sharing the results of its taxpayer-funded research with the broader public. From the report: "The memo outlining these new rules has not been made public, but the ban reportedly includes everything from summaries of scientific papers to USDA-branded tweets. Scientists are still able to publish their findings in peer-reviewed journals, but they are unable to talk about that research without prior consent from their agency. This is not the first time that public science has been hamstrung by a gag order. To this day, the quantity of oil spewed into the ocean during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil spill remains something of a mystery. Many of the scientists who worked on the spill were hired by BP and barred from speaking on it. But gag orders -- while always troublesome -- have usually been limited to one specific issue. Right now, the EPA and USDA have been forbidden to speak about all of their scientific research. It means that many of the kinds of stories we now cover will never see the light of day." UPDATE 1/24/17: The USDA has disavowed the memo sent to employees at its Agricultural Research Service unit. USDA's deputy administrator, Michael Young, clarified that the gag order specifically applies to policy-related statements in press releases and interviews, which need to be vetted with the secretary of agriculture. He told The Washington Post that peer-reviewed scientific papers from the unit should not be blocked, nor should food safety announcements. The Washington Post notes that "the memo's shortness and terse language seems to have exacerbated the confusion: 'Starting immediately and until further notice, ARS will not release any public-facing documents. This includes, but is not limited to, news releases, photos, fact sheets, news feeds, and social media content,' wrote ARS chief Sharon Drumm in an email to employees."

4 of 372 comments (clear)

  1. Continuation of the Bush policy "Hear No Evil" by Swave+An+deBwoner · · Score: 4, Interesting
    It looks like Trump is toeing to the historical Republican line here.

    http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/six-years-of-deceit-20070628

    No longer is the administration simply censoring scientific reports – it has moved to silence the scientists themselves. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the administration refused to allow a top federal scientist whose research links increased hurricane intensity to global warming to speak to the press. It sent out a gag order to top government polar scientists, demanding that anyone attending international scientific conventions agree not to speak to reporters about "climate change, polar bears and sea ice." And it ordered a former intern from the Bush-Cheney campaign in the NASA press office to prevent Dr. James Hansen, the godfather of global-warming science, from talking to the media.

  2. Re:NOT Fake News by interkin3tic · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The conservative Harper government sent government censors to monitor what scientists said at conferences. I would definitely expect the much-more-extremist conservative government we have here now to go further. And Trump knows the power of twitter and social media. The roadblock to taking action on climate change isn't a lack of peer-reviewed journals or conferences. The issue is getting the public to realize they're definitely in danger. Trump is likely looking into keeping that from happening.

  3. Re:Totally normal. Everything is fine. by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Maybe it has something to do with partisans of the former administration being unable to simply DO THEIR FUCKING JOBS without smarmy anti-Trump shitposting?

    Can you give an example - one example - of this "shitposting" by workers at these agencies? Can you even point to anything remotely partisan in any of the tweets that were deleted?

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  4. Re:DANGER by Some+nick+or+other · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You people want government involvement in everything. Congrats on that. How's that working out for you?

    Here's a socialist hellhole where the government is involved in everything. It seems to be working out just fine.