Everyone knows that America loves its rhetorical wars—in between actual military actions, the US has fought wars on cancer, drugs, and poverty, to name a few. But the war on science is now officially over, according to the guy who declared it.

In a piece appearing yesterday on Slate, Chris Mooney, author of the Republican War on Science and one of Wired’s ten sexiest geeks in 2005, wrote that Barack Obama’s election will end years of George W. Bush’s distortion and outright muzzling of science. He rightly points out that Obama has already named several scientists to key positions in his administration (whereas Bush took over a year to settle on even a scientific advisor).

Meanwhile, over on Capital Hill, California Democrat Henry Waxman has announced plans for “quick and decisive” climate change legislation. The times they are a changin’.