The headline is a bit of irony, of course, as there never has been a “war on science,” just politics as usual, sometimes played more hardball than others, especially by the previous Administration.

On Tuesday Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) sent a letter to Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar complaining that the Department has been playing fast and loose with scientific information in order to shutdown a coastal oyster farm in an inconvenient location, based on the release of a new report from the National Academy of Sciences:

For several years, I have been concerned about the National Park Service’s apparent efforts to shut down a family-owned oyster operation in Drakes Estero by casting it as harmful to the environment. Drakes Estero has been home to a family-owned oystering business since 1934 – long before the Park was established. It employs 30-40 people, and is part of the sustainable agricultural movement in West Marin. I have tried to work with NPS to mitigate concerns and allow the Lunny family to run its oyster company, and I appreciated former Park Service Director Mary Bomar’s efforts to seriously consider the concerns of the oyster operation’s owners regarding this issue.

The National Park Service has to make a decision soon on whether to renew the Lunny’s permit to continue their mariculture operations in the Drakes Bay. Because of concerns about the scientific information being relied upon, and disseminated by, the Park Service, the National Academy of Science was asked to conduct a study about the impact of the oyster operations in the Estero. It released its report today, finding that the National Park Service “selectively presented, over-interpreted, or misrepresented the available scientific information on potential impacts of the oyster mariculture operation” (p. 53).

I find it troubling and unacceptable that the National Park Service exaggerated the effects of the oyster population on the Estero’s ecosystem. . . .

A group of environmental organizations has been trying for some time to close the oyster farm (groups including The Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, Friends of the Earth and others) based on assertions of environmental damage from the farm. Here is an excerpt from a letter that they wrote lto Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) last year (PDF):

Now we find we must raise our voices again to oppose yet another ill-advised proposal – this one by the oyster company that wants to continue commercial oyster production past 2012 in what is slated to be a fully designated wilderness area in PRNS. This proposal, to be successful, would require congressional language overriding and going against previous legislation created with significant public input and support from numerous environmental organizations and the Marin County Board of Supervisors. If the oyster company and its lobbyists succeed, it would be the first time Congress took an area of “potential wilderness” in a national park and downgraded its protective status simply to perpetuate a commercial enterprise. Such a step would set a dangerous precedent.

What does Senator Feinstein have to say about that in her letter this week?

The National Academy of Sciences report does not present any compelling ecological reason for refusing to renew the Drakes Bay Oyster Company lease in 2012.

So a federal agency is said to have “selectively presented, over-interpreted, or misrepresented the available scientific information” in support of decisions desired by interest groups closely aligned with that agency. One wonders, where are the “war on science” folks these days?