Interior Department issues new policy protecting government scientists

The Interior Department set new rules Tuesday that will protect scientific information and the people who create it from political interference, earning wide praise from outside groups that have long alleged that top political officials regularly manipulate or misinterpret data. The new scientific-integrity policy applies to the department's 67,000 employees as well as its contractors, grant recipients and volunteers when they analyze or share scientific information with reporters and the public or use the department's information to make policy or regulatory decisions, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said. The hiring and promotion of officials should be based on "knowledge, credentials and experience relevant to the responsibility of the position," according to the new policy, which also requires the public distribution of scientific and scholarly work not protected by government secrecy laws...more

Is this the same Ken Salazar who distorted the scientists' report on offshore drilling?