Scientists and Engineers for America
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.
Membership	6,000[1]
Official languages	English
Secretary-General	N/A
Formation	September 27, 2006
Official website	www.sefora.org

Scientists and Engineers for America (SEA) is an organization focused on promoting sound science in American government, and supporting candidates who understand science and its applications. SEA was formed on September 27, 2006, and describes itself as non-partisan.^[2] Image File history File links Scientists_and_Engineers_for_America. ... Nickname: DC, The District Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia. ... An official language is a language that is given a privileged legal status in a state, or other legally-defined territory. ... September 27 is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... September 27 is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

SEA is organized as a 527 group, and represents a reorganization of Scientists and Engineers for Change, an organization founded in 2004 to support the election of John Kerry. Its current executive director is lawyer and political consultant Michael T. Brown. ^[3] 527 group, a type of tax-exempt organization, named after a section of the United States tax code, created primarily to influence the nomination, election, appointment or defeat of candidates for public office. ... John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is the junior United States Senator from Massachusetts. ...

Political positions

Bill of Rights for Scientists and Engineers

A bill of rights which outlines the principles of the organisation states:^[4]

Federal policy shall be made using the best available science and analysis both from within the government and from the rest of society. The federal government shall never intentionally publish false or misleading scientific information nor post such material on federal websites. Scientists conducting research or analysis with federal funding shall be free to discuss and publish the results of unclassified research after a reasonable period of review without fear of intimidation or adverse personnel action. Federal employees reporting what they believe to be manipulation of federal research and analysis for political or ideological reasons should be free to bring this information to the attention of the public and shall be protected from intimidation, retribution or adverse personnel action by effective enforcement of Whistle Blower laws. No scientists should fear reprisals or intimidation because of the results of their research. Appointments to federal scientific advisory committees shall be based on the candidate’s scientific qualifications, not political affiliation or ideology. The federal government shall not support any science education program that includes instruction in concepts that are derived from ideology and not science. While scientists may elect to withhold methods or studies that might be misused there shall be no federal prohibition on publication of basic research results. Decisions made about blocking the release of information about specific applied research and technologies for reasons of national security shall be the result of a transparent process. Classification decisions shall be made by trained professionals using a clear set of published criteria and there shall be a clear process for challenging decisions and a process for remedying mistakes and abuses of the classification system.

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Mission statement

The organisation's mission statement states:^[5]

We envision a future where wise science and technology policy can help every American live in a safe and clean environment, enjoy quality health and education, and benefit from a strong system of national defense. SEA is the only national organization dedicated exclusively to electing leaders who share this vision.

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Board of Advisors

Among others, the SEA Board of Advisors includes noted Nobel Laureates such as:^[2] Nobel Prize medal. ...

Peter Agre (born January 30, 1949) is an American biologist who was awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (which he shared with Roderick MacKinnon) for his discovery of aquaporins. ... Sidney Altman (born May 7, 1939) is a Canadian-born molecular biologist, who is currently the Sterling Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and Chemistry at Yale University. ... Philip Warren Anderson (born December 13, 1923) is one of the most influential theoretical physicists of the 20th century. ... Nicolaas Bloembergen (born March 11, 1920) is an Dutch physicist. ... James Watson Cronin (born September 29, 1931) is an American nuclear physicist. ... Johann Deisenhofer (born September 30, 1943) is a German biochemist who, along with Hartmut Michel and Robert Huber, received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1988 for their determination of the structure of a membrane-bound complex of proteins and co-factors that is essential to photosynthesis. ... Alfred Goodman Gilman (b. ... Dudley Robert Herschbach (born June 18, 1932), a chemist and Frank B. Baird Jr. ... Douglas Dean Osheroff (born August 1, 1945) is a American physicist. ... Arno Allan Penzias (born April 26, American physicist. ... Martin Lewis Perl (b. ... Norman Foster Ramsey (born August 27, 1915) is an American physicist. ... Burton Richter (Born March 22, 1931) is a Nobel Prize-winning American physicist. ... Charles Hard Townes (born July 28, American physicist and educator. ... Harold Elliot Varmus (b. ...

Criticism

Soon after its foundation, the organization was accused of partisanship by several conservative media outlets. Wesley J. Smith, senior fellow of the Discovery Institute, wrote in The Weekly Standard: The references in this article would be clearer with a different and/or consistent style of citation, footnoting or external linking. ... The Discovery Institute is a think tank structured as a non-profit foundation, founded in 1990 and based in Seattle, Washington, USA. The stated mission of the organization is to, make a positive vision of the future practical. ... The Weekly Standard is an American neoconservative political magazine published 48 times per year. ...

When critics bemoan the politicization of science, they usually point a bitter finger at the Bush administration. Their condemnation should actually be aimed in the opposite direction. Increasingly, it is the scientists themselves--or better stated the leaders of the science sector--who are devolving science from the apolitical pursuit of knowledge into a distinctly ideological enterprise.[6]

An editorial in The Wall Street Journal criticised the organization for seeming to stifle scientific dissent: Image File history File links Cquote1. ... Image File history File links Cquote2. ... The Wall Street Journal is an influential international daily newspaper published in New York City, New York with a worldwide average daily circulation of more than 2. ...

That is one reason why it is always dismaying when scientists -- of all people -- suggest that on some subjects there must be no questioning because debate is closed. And on one level, at least, this would seem to be the implicit message of the newly formed 527 political organization called Scientists and Engineers for America, or SEA.[7]

In a rebuttal posted on the SEA website, executive director Michael Brown stated: Image File history File links Cquote1. ... Image File history File links Cquote2. ...

Nothing could be further from the truth. As one who is familiar with SEA and its mission, I must confess that I had to read the editorial three or four times before I had any idea what it was talking about. In fact, it was not until I re-read the Weekly Standard article that I understood the “debate” we were allegedly closing. This is the debate about whether scientists and engineers should engage in public policy and actively address the misuse and politicization of science or whether they should remain silent when their voices are censured, their findings are misused, and scientific integrity itself is attacked. This is a debate that is open, ongoing---and that we join with enthusiasm.[8]

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See also

• Politicization of science
• Scientific Integrity in Policymaking
• Union of Concerned Scientists

The politicization of science occurs when governments, businesses, and lobby groups use legal or economic pressure to influence the findings of scientific research, especially when this influence retards the progress of science. ... Scientific Integrity in Policymaking: An Investigation into the Bush Administrations Misuse of Science is the title of a report published by the Union of Concerned Scientists in February, 2004. ... The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is an advocacy organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. ...

References

October 27 is the 300th day of the year (301st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 65 days remaining. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... September 27 is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Seed is a science magazine published bimonthly by Seed Media Group [1] and distributed internationally. ... October 6 is the 279th day of the year (280th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... September 27 is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... September 27 is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Weekly Standard is an American neoconservative political magazine published 48 times per year. ... October 5 is the 278th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (279th in Leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Wall Street Journal is an influential international daily newspaper published in New York City, New York with a worldwide average daily circulation of more than 2. ... October 6 is the 279th day of the year (280th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... October 6 is the 279th day of the year (280th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Kansas City Star is a newspaper in Kansas City, Missouri. ... September 28 is the 271st day of the year (272nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The New York Times is a newspaper published in New York City by Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. ... September 28 is the 271st day of the year (272nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Colbert Report (pronounced )[1], is an American satirical television program on Comedy Central that stars comedian Stephen Colbert, best known previously as a senior correspondent for The Daily Show. ... October 2 is the 275th day (276th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 90 days remaining. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Scientists and Engineers for America: official site