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
![A petrochemical plant.](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2021-05/1500-900-petrochemical.jpg?itok=rw5JxVIz)
EPA Finalized Rule that Eliminated Safeguards for Industrial Pollution
![A child wearing a face mask.](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2021-05/1500-900-mask-kid.jpg?itok=sPU8mu8U)
CDC and HHS Failed to Track COVID-19 Data
![A newborn baby's foot.](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2021-04/1500-900-baby-foot.jpg?itok=4Ilu2oZB)
EPA Refused to Ban Three Toxic Chemicals
![A child using a sink faucet.](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2021-04/1500-900-kid-faucet.jpg?itok=9LnwZzFb)
EPA Sidelined Scientists and Weakened PFAS Assessment
![President Donald Trump shaking hands with Andrew Wheeler.](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2021-04/1500-900-Wheeler-Trump_2019.jpg?itok=8oC1FOHa)
White House Intervenes to Weaken PFAS Import Ban
![A hand points at a dead bird in an oil pit.](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2021-04/dead-bird-in-oil-pit.jpg?itok=-_HQW75Z)
Rolled Back Protections on Migratory Birds
![A highway with cars.](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2021-04/1500-900-highway.jpg?itok=008qEs8Y)
Trump Administration Didn’t Use Best Available Science to Estimate the Costs of Climate Change
![Hydropower.](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2021-04/1500-900-hydropower-pd.jpg?itok=y2r5J8xt)
Trump Administration Suppressed Clean Energy Research
![EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler.](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2020-03/1500-900-wheeler.jpg?itok=3-QzJbjo)
EPA Rule Restricted Science
![A forest during the daytime.](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2020-12/1500-900-big-tree-forest.jpg?itok=ls4rw3-u)