FactCheck.org’s SciCheck feature focuses exclusively on false and misleading scientific claims that are made by partisans to influence public policy. It was launched in January 2015 with a grant from the Stanton Foundation. The foundation was founded by the late Frank Stanton, president of CBS for 25 years, from 1946 to 1971.
The Trump administration’s initiative to combat the opioid epidemic aims to reduce drug demand, curtail illicit drug supply and expand addiction treatment. But the aspect that garnered headlines was President Trump’s repeated emphasis on seeking the death penalty for drug traffickers. We answer several key questions on the topic.
In an op-ed for Fox News, Rep. Lamar Smith, the chairman of the House science committee, made a host of false and misleading claims about climate change and related issues.
In observing that “every type of energy has consequences,” Department of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke claimed the “carbon footprint on wind [energy] is significant.” In fact, wind power’s carbon footprint is among the smallest of any energy source.
In the wake of the Florida school shooting, politicians have raised concern over the influence of violent video games and films on young people. Scientists still debate the issue, but the majority of studies show that extensive exposure media violence is a risk factor for aggressive thoughts, feelings and behaviors.
Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt suggests that global warming isn’t necessarily “a bad thing” because “humans have most flourished during times of … warming.” But recent years have been the warmest humans have seen over at least the last millennium.
In a recent interview with the British station ITV, President Donald Trump falsely implied the globe’s ice caps are at “record” high levels. But ice caps generally have been declining worldwide.
Sen. James Inhofe misleadingly claimed that the statistics behind the globe’s likely hottest years on record — 2014, 2015 and 2016 — were “meaningless” because the temperature increases were “well within the margin of error.” Taking into account the margins of error, there’s still a long-term warming trend.
In our roundup of 2016 claims, we hypothesized that SciCheck would have no dearth of false and misleading claims to cover in 2017. That proved true. Politicians kept us busy. As 2017 comes to a close, we present the most notable claims about science from this year.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions claimed that more car accidents were “caused” by drugs than alcohol for the first time in 2016. But the report his office cited as support didn’t show that.
The head of the House science committee falsely claimed the National Science Foundation funds “more than twice as many graduate students in the social and behavioral sciences as in computer science, mathematics or material science.”