Cheney to scientists: Nyah, nyah, nyah!

I can't hear you!

Because this animal is an endangered marine mammal, NMFS, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is charged with designing a recovery plan for them.

More than four years of NOAA research showed that speed kills whales. Above a speed of about 10 knots, a right whale's encounter with a large ship would likely be fatal.

NOAA is in charge of the scientific aspects of these types of rules, the federal Office of Management and Budget must weigh in on their economic impact. The OMB was supposed to make a decision on the rule last year -- but there is still no indication when it might act on it.

... and ...

Whale experts say they are frustrated by the amount of time the proposal has languished without a "yea" or "nay" from the Office of Management and Budget.

Rep. Henry Waxman said the long, drawn-out process within OMB and Vice President Dick Cheney's office is demoralizing career government scientists.

"I think many of the scientists who work for the government are very frustrated, and scientists outside of government are astounded to see the scientific method so abused by this administration. There's been a politicization of science to either ignore the science, rewrite it, or to suppress it," said Waxman, chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Waxman said the Bush administration thinks the "science shouldn't bind them. They're going to do what industry wants."

So, if it's not bullying government scientists into reporting/spinning things into a form that the administration deems acceptable (and in the best interests of the special interest groups they support and/or protect), they're burying scientist recommendations in red tape. This is, as far as I can tell, the most anti-intellectual administration I've ever seen. At least they were the best at something, right?