Oh brother! This is worse than I thought - the level of p________l interfernce in science in the public/ecological interest knows no boundaries, it seems:

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June 2005: The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) distributed a 34-question survey to more than 460 NOAA Fisheries biologists, ecologists, botanists and other science professionals working in headquarters and regional and field offices across the country to obtain their perceptions of scientific integrity within the agency, as well as political interference, resources and morale.Â

I. Political Interference with Scientific Determinations

Large numbers of agency scientists reported political interference in scientific determinations:

More than one third of respondents positioned to make such recommendations (37 percent) have "been directed, for non-scientific reasons, to refrain from making findings that are protective" of marine life and nearly one in four (24 percent) of those conducting such work reported being "directed to inappropriately exclude or alter technical information from a NOAA Fisheries scientific document;"

More than half of all respondents (53 percent) knew of cases where "commercial interests have inappropriately induced the reversal or withdrawal of scientific conclusions or decisions through political intervention;" and

More than half of the scientists (58 percent) knew of cases "where high-level U.S. Department of Commerce administrators and appointees have inappropriately altered NOAA Fisheries determinations."Â A substantial minority (42 percent) also cited incidents where members of Congress "inappropriately influenced NOAA Fisheries determinations."....**

Here is a link that might be useful: Full Article