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Of course research is always compromised by the money -- government or private -- funding it. However, this is another layer of governmental red tape meant to stymie progress in our understanding.
For me, "conservative" means trying to research all we can so we can write regs that keep the environment the way it is -- "conserve" it. Rather, somehow, "conservative" go flipped on its head somewhere, and now it means "conserving" the old big businesses and their smoke-chugging slouching toward Bethlehem.
Of course, I've got to wonder how much this will apply, because I would think most research used by the EPA or health agencies would like be peer-reviewed research anyway.
Oh, and this does not separate science and state very much -- rather it's a power grab away from one part of the executive branch (the regulatory agencies) to another part of the same branch, OMB (the pocketbook agency). Presidents have been using OMB for a while to reign in agencies, and OMB funding can be used to adjust the "faucet" of money to agencies in a subtle/secret/unnoticed way -- which can completely stymie and agency's programs without actually shrinking or otherwise publicly limiting the agency's powers.
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