Big Surprise: Political Agencies are Political

It’s a funny thing about the greens. They support government controls over everything in society in the name of Mother Earth, but after turning over our freedom to regulators they get angry that political decisions at political agencies are affected by politics! As if that was a big surprise! The Union for Concerned Scientists is upset because regulators at EPA have to listen to the concerns raised by lobbyists from industry and elsewhere.

Well, we at CEI are concerned about such politically driven decisions too! We don’t want agencies’ “science” to serve industry or the greens! That’s because, unlike the greens, we don’t trust government to command and control away our freedoms—be they economic or personal. We prefer market-driven decisions, which are based on what consumers want, what turns enough profit (and generates wealth for everyone), and what works! And if a product does a concrete and measurable harm, the institutions of liberty—such as a legal system upholding individual rights and private property—are there to demand a remedy. Everyone is held responsible for their actions in the marketplace.

Government decisions are based on what group is the most organized and can pull the most stings and levers in Washington. Parties are held selectively responsible for their actions, and often bad actions are supported via regulation or subsidies. The greens don’t mind this system as long as their friends are in charge of the levers, they can pull the strings, and they can gain the subsidies. But the minute any other voice is heard, they suddenly become the protectors of sound of science!

Frankly, science is better served when the greens are ignored, but that rarely happens. Political pressures to serve a “green cause” are very strong and that inclination is harming science more than industry voices. Indeed. During the arsenic in drinking water debate, scientists who served on the key National Academy of Science study on the topic reported such pressures to an EPA interagency liaison, complaining that they did not support the spin placed on the report and that they felt political pressure to support the green’s cause. Why didn’t the Union for Concerned Sciences complain then? Well, that wouldn’t serve their political agenda.