Letter: Putting ideology ahead of science

Friday, Sept. 10, 2004 | 8:59 a.m.

As a scientist, I feel I must warn my neighbors in Nevada against believing George W. Bush's claim that his decision to house our nation's nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain was based on science and not on politics. In my entire 30-year career in basic biomedical research, I have never witnessed a president, Republican or Democrat, who has exhibited a greater disdain for science, or who has so consistently corrupted scientific data for political ends.

Examples are too numerous to name, and range from the posting of misleading information on the National Cancer Institute Web site linking abortion to breast cancer, to an ignorant denial of the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change, to an inconceivable ban on basic research involving human embryonic stem cells.

All of these positions merely serve Mr. Bush's ideology and the business interests of his backers. In matters of science (among other things), George Bush simply has no credibility. So, when he assures you that the "best science" supports placing a nuclear waste repository near Las Vegas, I would be suspicious that the truth, and his motives, lie elsewhere.

Indeed, even in this conclusion, George Bush ignores the counsel of his own National Academy of Sciences, which has urged an entirely different standard for safety than has been applied by his administration. In Mr. Bush's world, the best science is that which supports his preconceived points of view.

IRA MELLMAN New Haven, Conn. Editor's note: Ira Mellman is chairman of the Department of Cell Biology at Yale University's School of Medicine.