SANTA BARBARA — Politicians, being politicians, are apt to fudge scientific facts to fit their specific policies and agendas, Kevin Knobloch believes.

"Every president in modern times has let political agenda trump science on occasion," Knobloch, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, said Wednesday evening. "But in the early days of the Bush administration, we heard from federal scientists that something far more insidious was going on. Research was systematically suppressed, edited and ignored with harmful consequences to our environmental health, national security and economy."

At a one-sided talk at UC Santa Barbara, Knobloch said no presidential administration has altered and manipulated science to the degree the Bush administration has over the past seven years. He excoriated the Bush administration's record on the environment, saying facts are often ignored so big businesses can have their way.

Knobloch made his comments to about 50 people at the university's Bren School of Environmental Science & Management.

UCS is a nonprofit group that promotes using science to guide policy concerning the environment, nuclear proliferation and other issues.

Knobloch had few good things to say about the current administration during his 60-minute talk, during which he touted his group's findings regarding science as being ignored at various government agencies.

He said he's heard criticism that the group is biased against the president, but said they have reviewed other presidential records and none is as bad as Bush's.

Knobloch cited a survey UCS did of governmental scientists that asked if they felt comfortable expressing concerns on their agency's work.

Of the 1,800 scientists surveyed, about 700 said they were not comfortable speaking out for fear of retaliation. Another survey found 43 percent of climate scientists said their work was edited to change the meaning of their scientific finding, he said. The survey found that 37 percent of scientists said their findings were later misrepresented.

Knobloch said he hopes the next president, whoever it may be, will bring back scientific integrity to the White House.