WASHINGTON, D.C. – Do federal scientists in the USA fear for their jobs for speaking the truth? What about corporate-funded science? Increasingly, powerful institutions have tried to curb scientific independence and integrity regarding issues as wide-ranging as public health, the environment, the economy, and government energy policy.

To address these concerns, the Integrity in Science project of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is sponsoring a conference in Washington, D.C. on 11 July. Titled Rejuvenating Public Sector Science, the conference will feature sessions on:

· the climate crisis;

· protecting and empowering scientists at federal agencies;

· insulating clean energy research from special interests;

· and how the scientific commumunity should handle conflict of interests.

The research director of the non-profit Center for Media & Democracy, Sheldon Rampton, is to moderate the global warming panel. The director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, James Hansen, and Representative Brad Miller (D-NC) are to deliver keynote addresses.

The title for Mr Hansen’s address is Threat to the Planet: The Dark and Bright Sides of Global Warming. Mr Miller will speak on Preserving Scientific Integrity: The Role of Congressional Oversight.

The all-day event, the fourth such national conference organised by CSPI’s Integrity in Science project, will focus on protecting government scientists and regulators from political and corporate influence. Among the speakers are:

• Anthony Broccoli, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Rutgers University;

• Ezekiel Emanuel, chair, Department of Clinical Bioethics, National Institutes of Health;

• James Furnish, former Forest Service deputy chief;

• James Hansen, director, NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies;

• William Hubbard, former Food & Drug Administration associate commissioner;

• David Michaels, director, Project on Scientific Knowledge & Public Policy;

• Representative Brad Miller (D-CA), Chairman of the Sub-committee on Investigations & Oversight, Committee on House Science & Technology

• Gail Wilensky, Project Hope

A full list of speakers and the complete conference agenda have been posted to the CSPI website at www.cspinet.org