And, again, there is no “war on science” . . . the headline is a joke, poking some fun at those who saw a war on science during the Bush Administration every time politicians played politics in subjects involving science, but who have gone deaf, blind, and mute when the same behavior now occurs.

In this instance, the continuation of politics as usual involves biofuels. Despite what I saw as very favorable terms for evaluating biofuels recommend by EPA, a bipartisan group of 42 members of Congress has decided to tell EPA what scientific methods it should use to evaluate the carbon dioxide footprint of biofuels, based on its judgments as to the scientific merit of those methods. From a press release issued Friday:

Today, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (MN) and Ranking Member Frank Lucas (OK) along with a bipartisan group of 42 Members of Congress introduced a bill to correct flawed provisions in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) that are limiting the potential for clean, homegrown renewable biofuels to meet our nation’s energy needs. . . The bill eliminates the requirement that the Environmental Protection Agency consider indirect land use when calculating the greenhouse gas emissions associated with advanced biofuels. Currently, there is no reliable method to predict accurately how biofuel production will affect land use in the United States or internationally.

The answer is “biofuels”. Thus, the science needs to be produced in such a way as to support that answer. I suppose that the agencies will get this message soon enough.