Science is at the core of a healthy democracy. But for years, presidential administrations have, in differing ways, sidelined scientific evidence and attacked scientific integrity.
Below is a running list of attacks on science. They include disappearing data, silenced scientists, suppressed studies, and other assaults on science-based policy. The list provides a representative sample of threats to the federal scientific enterprise—and a warning of what we face in the future. More information can be found in our peer-reviewed study and in our data repository.
Attacks on science
![Smoke coming out of a coal-fired power plant.](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2023-01/1500-900-coal-power-plant.jpg?itok=2V0u9IY5)
White House Altered Scientific Data on Coal Ash Hazards
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Bowing to Industry, EPA Failed to Collect Pollution Data from Industrial Farms
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White House Pressured EPA to Make Particulate Matter Standard Less Health-Protective
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Fish and Wildlife Service Officials Used Flawed Science to Jeopardize an Endangered Beetle
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FDA Allowed Pfizer to Downplay Science on an Arsenic-Containing Animal Drug
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Obama Administration Ignored Science and Restricted Access to Plan B
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President Obama Ordered the Dismissal of a More Health-Protective Ozone Standard
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The Minerals Management Service: Bad Science in the Name of Private Interests
![A fleet of ships tries to extinguish a flaming oil rig.](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2023-01/1500-900-deepwater-horizon.jpg?itok=o0sklvJ7)
NOAA Officials Mischaracterize Report on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
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