Trust Us, We're Experts

Chris Mooney
September 28, 2005

Chris Mooney is Washington correspondent for Seed magazine and author of the newly released book, The Republican War on Science (www.waronscience.com).

There has been much talk, of late, about how the Bush administration has reached a new low when it comes to the misuse of science to appease its political base. That base, of course, centrally comprises two key interest groups—industry and the Christian right—that want the science to go their way on issues ranging from global warming (of keen interest to fossil fuel companies) to evolution (of keen interest to religious conservatives). Under the current administration, these groups are clearly getting what they want. But does this alone explain why so many political fights over science are erupting right now?

The answer is, not quite. There's another crucial factor: The two constituencies have themselves changed, over the last several decades, in ways that have made them more inclined to misuse and abuse science than before. One key enabling factor is that both of these phalanxes of the right have been involved in generating their own sources of alternative (and sympathetic) expertise—often set up in opposition to more traditional university-based sources. In a pinch, political actors in the White House, the administration or Congress can then draw upon these founts of sympathetic "knowledge," distorting science in the process.