The Trump administration opened public comment on the impacts of Arctic drilling…not on policy, but on science itself
In February 2020, the Trump administration opened an unprecedented public comment period to solicit public feedback on a peer-reviewed scientific study. The study, authored by scientists at the Fish and Wildlife Service and United States Geological Survey, investigated the effects of oil and gas exploration on polar bears.
Polar Bear | NOAA
Why this Matters
From the start, Alaska Wildlife Alliance has had concerns about the propriety of this comment period. Opening a public comment period on published research signifies to federal scientists that their employer does not trust their work or the peer-review process. Putting science itself on trial also calls into question the extent to which biological data is in involved in this policy process. If the administration heeds comments from non-experts, this could lead to the peer-reviewed study not informing decisions to protect polar bears from the effects of oil and gas exploration in the Arctic.
“We question why the Department of the Interior seeks public comment on a single peer-reviewed scientific article published by the agencies’ own scientific experts, rather than take comment following the publication of a proposed incidental take regulation based on a body of scientific information…
…Seeking input from the public at this time and in this manner risks politicizing the scientific process in a way that contradicts the basic tenets of how science informs agency decision-making.”
-Alaska Wildlife Alliance et.al joint letter to US Fish and Wildlife Service
Dr. Andrew Rosenberg, director of the Center for Science and Democracy (CSD) at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), believes that the administration is opened the public comment period to allow special interest groups to weigh in on the study.
“What it looks like to me is they’re giving industry the opportunity to negate the study,” Rosenberg said.
The evidence is piling that there may be a concerted effort by the Trump administration to sideline the science saying polar bears may be harmed by oil and gas exploration in the arctic. In February of 2019, MotherJones released an internal FWS memo from scientists that found oil exploration activities would harm polar bear populations in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The memo was ignored and the Bureau of Land Management issued a finding of no significant impact from oil exploration on polar bear populations as part of an environmental assessment….
…Scientific experts and their work should inform government decisions, and the government should trust their work, especially if it has gone through a peer-review process. By undermining trust in their own scientists, the Trump administration is sending a chilling signal to its own employees that will likely negatively affect worker morale, effectiveness, and productivity. Additionally, if the administration chooses to listen to non-experts or those with conflicts of interests in protecting endangered species, those species may be lost forever.
-“Polar Bear Study Opened Up for Public Comment Period
to Undermine its Findings”, Union of Concerned Scientists
