The extent to which greenhouse gas emissions from human activity contribute to an increase in hurricane number and intensity in recent years, is a matter of active scientific debate.

In August 2005, the Department of Justice demoted an official who fought efforts to suppress an agency study which found evidence of racial profiling by police officers.

Early in 2005, NASA quietly closed down an $11.3 million, state-of-the-art program designed to collect critical data on air travel safety.

Dr. James Zahn, a research microbiologist at the USDA, asserted that he was prohibited on no fewer than 11 occasions from publicizing his research on the potential hazards to human health posed by airborne bacteria originating in farm wastes.

A widespread public outcry occurred in response to an unqualified FDA nominee.

In a well-documented case involving the Department of Health and Human Services, Secretary Tommy Thompson dismissed three well-qualified experts on ergonomics from a narrowly focused peer review panel at the NIOSH.

National Institute on Drug Abuse Subjects Scientific Appointees to Litmus Test.

The Bush administration interfered with scientific work on sex education programs.

The FDA repeatedly placed ideological and political considerations over scientific evidence in handling the emergency contraceptive drug Plan B’s switch from prescription to over-the-counter access.

In September 2004, the pharmaceutical company, Merck, voluntarily withdrew its pain medication Vioxx from the market after evidence emerged that patients were at increased risk of heart attack while taking the drug.