History

Climate Science Watch was initiated in 2005 after founder and director Rick Piltz went public about the Bush Administration’s political interference in the U.S. Climate Change Science Program’s climate change reports. White House censorship and misuse of climate change communication had undermined the scientific integrity of policymaking and contributed to a failure of preparedness to deal with the impacts of climate disruption. After his resignation from the federal program, Rick teamed up with the Government Accountability Project (GAP) in Washington, DC, the nation’s leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization. Climate Science Watch is now a sponsored project of GAP.

CSW’s investigation, analysis, communication, and reform advocacy has combined the concerns that have driven it since 2005: protecting freedom of communication by federal scientists; combating the global warming denial machine; holding government accountable for using climate science with integrity; and the policy mission of climate change preparedness. We have brought stories to light and developed information and ideas that have prompted electronic and print media coverage in the U.S. and internationally. We have testifed before the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and contributed to a succesful legal challenge to the Bush Administration in federal court. We have served as a vehicle for communication by leading scientists, through original posts and interviews.

While many of the communications that inform our work are off the record, much of CSW’s activity is documented on this website. Some of our most-viewed posts include:

Interview with Stephen Schneider on climate science expert credibility study (July 12, 2010)

New study finds striking level of agreement among climate experts on anthropogenic climate change (June 21, 2010)

Koch Industries multibillionaire Koch brothers bankroll attacks on climate change science and policy (March 18, 2010)

Senator Inhofe inquisition seeking to criminalize climate scientists (February 24, 2010)

Richard Somerville: A Response to Climate Change Denialism (January 22, 2010)

IPCC slips on the ice with statement about Himalayan glaciers (January 19, 2010)

New Hansen analysis and global temperature data counter disinformers who say the planet is cooling (January 16, 2010)

Text of the Copenhagen Accord (December 19, 2009)

Sensenbrenner IPCC witch-hunt: Attempt to blacklist climate scientists must be rejected (December 9, 2009)

Open Letter to Congress from U.S. Scientists on Climate Change and Recently Stolen Emails (December 7, 2009)

Ben Santer: Open letter to the climate science community (December 1, 2009)

Phil Jones and Ben Santer respond to CEI and Pat Michaels attack on temperature data record (October 13, 2009)