Whatever Happened to Sound Science?

On September 5, 2007, Joseph Bast, president of The Heartland Institute, delivered a speech to Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment (RISE), an association of companies in the crop protection and pesticide businesses. According to Bast, sound science is missing from three of the most important public policy debates of the day: global warming, second-hand smoke, and pesticides management. He traces the problem to six trends, and suggests ways concerned citizens and business leaders can take action to bring sound science back into public policy debates.