Trojan gold: New US “standard” is another veiled attack on science | Science

Transparency, reproducibility, and recognition of uncertainty are meritorious attributes of science that differentiate it from other human endeavors, such as politics. But they can also be misused. In the United States, a Trump administration executive order titled Restoring Gold Standard Science illustrates how this can be achieved, although it is wrapped in language that most of the scientific community would enthusiastically support. The order aims to “ensure that federally funded research is transparent, rigorous, and impactful, and that federal decisions are informed by the most credible, reliable, and unbiased scientific evidence available,” and it has already informed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) revised procedures for conducting risk assessments for chemicals already in commerce.