ClimateScienceWatch |
Promoting integrity in the use of climate science in government |
Climate Science Watch is a nonprofit public interest education and advocacy project dedicated to holding public officials accountable for the integrity and effectiveness with which they use climate science and related research in government policymaking, toward the goal of enabling society to respond effectively to the challenges posed by global warming and climate change. See Details |
Blowing the Whistle on Climate Change
Posted on Tuesday, June 21, 2005
”Blowing the whistle on climate change: Interview with Rick Piltz, Environmental Science and Technology (ES&T) (22 June 2005) by ES&T Associate Editor Paul Thacker. “Before publishing this interview, ES&T contacted multiple government officials familiar with Piltz’s work. Although they did not agree with all his conclusions, they confirmed that his points are valid.”
Low-Ball-Warming: Chris Mooney on the Resignation of Rick Piltz
Posted on Monday, June 20, 2005
”Low-Ball Warming: There should be a special circle in hell for people who mess with scientific data.” In this article published by The American Prospect (20 June 2005), Chris Mooney writes about the resignation of Rick Piltz from the U.S. Climate Change Science Program. “What hath Rick Piltz wrought? It’s too soon to tell, but there’s a new feeling in the air about global warming. It’s a sense that the Bush administration may finally be held to account, by the media and by Congress, for four years of obstruction and denial while a planetary problem steadily worsened.”
Senators join Climate Science Watch whistleblower
Posted on Sunday, June 19, 2005
Democrats Unveil Initiative to Keep Science Out of Politics. Press release (20 June 2005) from Senate Democratic Communications Center and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid. “Senators Reid and Schumer announced today that Senate Democrats will introduce an amendment this week designed to prevent lawmakers from rewriting science to suit their political needs. “
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U.S. Pressure Weakens G-8 Climate Plan
Posted on Sunday, June 19, 2005
A collection of links to news stories indicating that the U.S. government used its influence to weaken the Climate Change Plan of Action [PDF] produced from the G-8 Summit in Scotland on 6-8 July 2005.
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More on the White House’s Editing of Climate Science Reports
Posted on Saturday, June 18, 2005
Here are a few more articles that have appeared on the White House censorship scandal since 11 June when the culpable official left the White House for a new job with ExxonMobil.
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Brad Friedman Inverviews Rick Piltz
Posted on Friday, June 17, 2005
Brad Friedman intervews Rick Piltz: Part I (6:08 - 21:24) and Part II (4:20 - 20:20) [MP3 files]. Audio recordings broadcast from The Brad Show, a California-based satellite radio talk show broadcast on the IBC Radio network on 18 June 2005.
Bush Administration Censor Resigns, Moves to ExxonMobil
Posted on Wednesday, June 15, 2005
“Editor of Climate Reports Resigns,” Andrew C. Revkin reports in the New York Times (June 11, 2005) that "Mr. Cooney’s resignation came two days after documents revealed that he had repeatedly edited government climate reports in ways that cast doubt on the link between building greenhouse-gas emissions and rising temperatures." On June 15 Revkin filed yet another story, “Former Bush Aide Who Edited Climate Reports is Hired by Exxon.”
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White House Responds to New York Times Exposé
Posted on Wednesday, June 08, 2005
At a White House Press briefing on June 8, 2005, spokesman Scott McClellan responds to an article in the New York Times. According to the 8 June 2005 piece by Andrew Revkin: “A White House official who once led the oil industry’s fight against limits on greenhouse gases has repeatedly edited government climate reports in ways that play down links between such emissions and global warming...”
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Censorship and Secrecy: Politicizing the Climate Change Science Program
Posted on Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Censorship and Secrecy: Politicizing the Climate Change Science Program. Prepared by Rick Piltz, former Senior Associate with the U.S. Climate Change Science Program Office, to explain his March 2, 2005 resignation. “This administration has acted to impede honest communication of the state of climate science and the implications for society of global climate change. Politicization by the White House has fed back directly into the science program in such a way as to undermine the credibility and integrity of the program in its relationship to the research community, to program managers, to policymakers, and to the public interest.”
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Bush Aide Edited Climate Reports: Ex-Oil Lobbyist Softened Greenhouse Gas Links (NY Times)
Posted on Tuesday, June 07, 2005
In “Bush Aide Edited Climate reports: Ex-Oil Lobbyist Softened Greenhouse Gas Links,” (New York Times, June 8, 2005, page 1), Andrew C. Revkin reports that a “White House official who once led the oil industry’s fight against limits on greenhouse gases has repeatedly edited government climate reports in ways that play down links between such emissions and global warming.”
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On Issues of Concern About the Governance and Direction of the Climate Change Science Program
Posted on Thursday, June 02, 2005
Memo to U.S. Climate Change Science Program Agency Principals, “On Issues of Concern About the Governance and Direction of the Climate Change Science Program” (dated 1 June 2005). Rick Piltz, author of the memo and a former official of the Climate Change Science Program, says: “I believe the overarching problem is that the administration—acting primarily through key positions in the Executive Office of the President, and to some extent the State Department, and aligning itself with some of its key allies—does not want and has acted to impede forthright communication of the state of climate science and its implications for society.” The memo supports this conclusion in great detail.
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