by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow
As appearing in the Daily Sentinel

The Interior Department marked its 172nd anniversary two years ago by recommitting itself to science-based decision-making, instructing its employees to follow the best available science at every turn.

It was intended to realign agency procedures with the Data Quality Act of 2000, which set scientific information quality, integrity and reproducibility standards for information disseminated by federal agencies.

The 2021 secretarial order, said a top official, “Puts the evaluation and decision-making authority regarding scientific information back where it should be: in the hands of the scientists.” She explained, “Science is at the heart of Interior’s mission, from protecting endangered species to conducting environmental assessments for energy projects.” So, how did the Department evolve, in only two years, from insisting that decisions be left to scientists, to now recommending that decision-makers consider knowledge handed down from spirits?
For real. The Interior Department recently hosted an ‘Indigenous Knowledge’ Seminar that warned scientists about “disrespecting” knowledge from “spirits,” captured on video and reported by the Washington Free Beacon. This new emphasis on “indigenous knowledge” originated in a 46-page memo from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, of all places.

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