Posted: 04/ 3/2012 12:00 pm

The term "political science" used to mean public policy studied not just as opinion but based on empirical, documentable evidence. Today it's come to mean something darker--the subversion of science in the hands of ideologues committed to manipulating public policy to their end. This new, and disheartening use of the term can apply to industry groups that put profit ahead of data or advocacy groups of the left or right who believe they are on the side of the angels, empirical facts be damned.

Take the issue of chemicals, a popular flogging horse of reflexively anti-industry organizations. Most writers in the blogosphere, including many with PhD next to their name and working for self-proclaimed public interest groups, have a limited understanding of toxicological science and don't know anything about chemical risk assessment. That's a toxic mix, especially when you're trying to explain the science of toxicity.