Lubchenco, Lysenko: Hope Yen/AP on Obama's science picks and politicization

The aptly-named Hope Yen of the Associated Press offers an article about recent science-related Barack Obama appointments. She shows us what she at least really thinks about the politicization of science: she supports it, just as long as the politics are the right kind. In fact, either she or an AP editor re-wrote a later version of the article to delete a questionable phrase; see the two editions compared side-by-side in the extended entry. The first version, from today at around 8AM, says this:
President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday named Harvard physicist John Holdren and marine biologist Jane Lubchenco to top science posts, signaling a change from Bush administration policies on global warming that were criticized for putting politics over science.
The version of about three and a half hours later says:
President-elect Barack Obama's selection Saturday of a Harvard physicist and a marine biologist for science posts is a sign he plans a more aggressive response to global warming than did the Bush administration.
Apparently someone at the AP realized that both Bush and Obama want to politicize science, it's just that Obama wants to politicize it in the right way. See also the rant here, which was commenting on the first version of the article:
We don't have to worry about the Obama administration "politicizing" science. Oh, no. Obama is going to do whatever Al Gore tells him, and everyone knows that Gore has nothing to do with politics... We are supposed to believe that the global warming cult, which has suppressed dissent and whose cult prophet, James Hansen, has called for "global warming deniers" to be thrown into prison, is only interested in "good science." The "global warming" movement is about one thing and one thing only: controlling people.
Note that the columns are keyed to the first version of the article; some of the cells in the right column which matched those in the left column were moved, compared, and then when found to match, were replaced with "SAME":
"Obama names Holdren, Lubchenco to science posts", Sat Dec 20, 8:02 am ET, link "Obama names 4 top members of science team", Sat Dec 20, 11:35 am ET, link
President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday named Harvard physicist John Holdren and marine biologist Jane Lubchenco to top science posts, signaling a change from Bush administration policies on global warming that were criticized for putting politics over science. President-elect Barack Obama's selection Saturday of a Harvard physicist and a marine biologist for science posts is a sign he plans a more aggressive response to global warming than did the Bush administration.
Both Holdren and Lubchenco are leading experts on climate change who have advocated forceful government response. Holdren will become Obama's science adviser as director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; Lubchenco will lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees ocean and atmospheric studies and does much of the government's research on global warming. John Holdren and Jane Lubchenco are leading experts on climate change who have advocated forceful government action. Holdren will become Obama's science adviser as director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Lubchenco will lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees ocean and atmospheric studies and does much of the government's research on global warming.
Holdren also will direct the president's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology. Joining him as co-chairs will be Nobel Prize-winning scientist Harold Varmus, a former director of the National Institutes of Health, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Eric Lander, a specialist in human genome research. SAME
"From landing on the moon, to sequencing the human genome, to inventing the Internet, America has been the first to cross that new frontier because we had leaders who paved the way," Obama said in announcing his selections in his weekly radio address. "Leaders who not only invested in our scientists, but who respected the integrity of the scientific process." (Just removed "in announcing his selections in his weekly radio address")
"Because the truth is that promoting science isn't just about providing resources - it's about protecting free and open inquiry. It's about ensuring that facts and evidence are never twisted or obscured by politics or ideology," he said. "I could not have a better team to guide me in this work." The president-elect said promoting science means more than just providing money, but also is about ensuring that facts and evidence are never twisted or obscured by politics or ideology.
In their posts, the four scientists will confront challenges in global warming after years of inaction by the Bush administration, which opposed mandatory cuts of greenhouse gas pollution. Last year, former Surgeon General Richard Carmona testified to Congress that top Bush administration officials often dismissed global warming as a "liberal cause" and sought to play down public health reports out of political considerations. (Just removed "In their posts")
Since 1993, summer Arctic sea ice has lost the equivalent of Alaska, California and Texas, and global warming is accelerating. The amount of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere has already pushed past the level some scientists say is safe. SAME
Holdren, 64, is a former president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington who has pushed for more urgent action on global warming. As Obama's top science adviser, he would manage about 40 Ph.D-level experts who help shape and communicate science and technology policy. SAME
Colleagues say the post is well-suited for Holdren, who at Harvard went from battling the spread of nuclear weapons to tackling the threat of global warming. He's an award-laden scientist comfortable in many different fields. NONE
"Global warming is a misnomer. It implies something gradual, something uniform, something quite possibly benign, and what we're experiencing is none of those," Holdren said a year ago in a speech at Harvard. "There is already widespread harm ... occurring from climate change. This is not just a problem for our children and our grandchildren." SAME
Lubchenco, an Oregon State University professor specializing in overfishing and climate change, will be the first woman to head NOAA. A member of the Pew Oceans Commission, Lubchenco has recommended steps to overcome crippling damage to the world's oceans from overfishing and pollution and has expressed optimism for change once President George W. Bush leaves office. SAME
"The Bush administration has not been respectful of the science," she said earlier this year. "But I think that's not true of Republicans in general. I know it's not. I am very much looking forward to a new administration that does respect scientific information and that considers it very seriously in making environmental policies." (Just removed "earlier this year")
Varmus, who was a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize for his research on the causes of cancer, served as National Institutes of Health director during the Clinton administration. A former medical professor at the University of California, San Francisco, he helped found the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention and chairs a scientific board at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. (Replaced "National Institutes of Health" with "NIH")
Lander, who teaches at both MIT and Harvard, founded the Whitehead Institute-MIT Center for Genome Research in 1990, which became part of the Broad Institute in 2003. A leading researcher in the Human Genome Project, he and his colleagues are using the findings to explore the molecular mechanisms behind human disease. SAME
In his radio address, Obama said he planned early next year to more closely address the issue of engaging the nation's technology community to "harness technology and innovation to create jobs, enhance America's competitiveness and advance our national priorities." NONE
"It's time we once again put science at the top of our agenda and worked to restore America's place as the world leader in science and technology," he said. (replaced "he said" with "Obama said in announcing the selections in his weekly radio address", which was removed from a paragraph above)

Comments

Obama will do what Al tells him to do? Obama like all monkeys must follow the leaders but obama's game is to eat the leaders.

I am now convinced your not sane Fred

I agree. Senility set in a long time ago. Fred, the readers here do not want to read your comments any longer. Be nice and quiet for a change.

do any of you understand what is happening inside the USA? Do you little boys? do you get what can happen to 2,500,000 million people? do you understand what mass Depression means? or are you so stupid you can't understand why obama was placed into power? or maybe you just have a job working for your government?

Post it on your myspace page and stop bothering people here with your incoherent racist rants referring to people as monkeys, if you have any decency.

Love you petty bourgeois whats my space page?