Report urges separation of science and state

Science and politics mix badly, a bipartisan report said Wednesday. It called for changes to federal agencies and expert panels to keep the subjects apart. The "Science for Policy Project," headed by the former House Science Committee chief Sherwood Boehlert, a retired Republican from New York, and Don Kennedy, former editor of Science, suggests conflict over stem cells, climate and other science "has left the US with a system that is plagued by charges that science is being 'politicized.'" The new bipartisan report's recommendations call for changes at agencies and the roughly 1,000 committees that provide science advice to the federal government, which can exert tremendous influence on government decisions.