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 chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology has made several inaccurate or misleading claims about climate science in an ongoing battle with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Hillary Clinton said that late-term abortions “are because of medical necessity.” There is little research on the subject, but existing data do not support her claim.
Ben Carson claimed that prevailing theories of how the universe began and how planets and stars formed violate the second law of thermodynamics. His comments represent a misunderstanding of scientific concepts.
Sarah Palin says man isn’t to blame for climate change, citing the fact that some glaciers in Alaska are expanding. But an individual glacier’s growth does not disprove the existence or causes of global warming. The vast majority of glaciers are losing ice rapidly.
Rick Santorum made two false claims regarding the scientific consensus on climate change in an interview with HBO’s Bill Maher.
Carly Fiorina said some unnamed vaccine-preventable diseases are “not communicable” and “not contagious.” Every immunization recommended by the CDC covers a highly communicable disease.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid has said at least twice that climate change is causing bears in the Sierra Nevada mountains to change their hibernation patterns. There is no evidence that climate change is actually having such an effect.
Mike Huckabee claimed that a single volcanic eruption “will contribute more than 100 years of human activity” toward global warming. This is far from accurate.
The full Planned Parenthood video shows an executive repeatedly saying its clinics want to cover their costs, not make money, when donating fetal tissue from abortions for scientific research.
A Republican congressman says the Environmental Protection Agency wants “to stop you and I from grilling,” and he has proposed legislation that would prohibit federal regulation of backyard barbecues.