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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 |
Senate committee lets Adm. Lautenbacher off the hook on NOAA media restrictions
Posted on Thursday, February 23, 2006
At a February 16 oversight committee hearing (video file; hearing begins at 17:50) on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fiscal year 2007 budget request, the Senate served up another example of the shortcomings of Congressional oversight of the administration’s handling of global warming. At a time of emerging outspokenness by federal climate scientists and increased media attention to political interference with public communication by scientists at NASA and NOAA, Adm. Conrad Lautenbacher, the NOAA Administrator, was allowed to dance away from a couple of general inquiries with evasive and misleading replies, with no follow-up from the committee. The hearing was held on the same day the Wall Street Journal ran an article citing a “growing outcry from climate researchers in [NOAAs] own ranks.”
Our question for the NOAA scientists among our readers: What do you think of the Admiral’s statements?
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American Meteorological Society statement on freedom of scientific expression
Posted on Thursday, February 23, 2006
In the wake of recent media coverage of the problem of political interference with public communication by federal climate scientists, the AMS Council on February 17 adopted a statement that says, in part: “The ability of scientists to present their findings to the public without censorship, intimidation, or political interference is imperative.” The AMS should follow up by monitoring whether media and public communications policies for climate scientists at NASA and NOAA are consistent with the statement.
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Sen. Mikulski’s letter requesting GAO report on openness in federal science communication
Posted on Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) has requested a review by the congressional Government Accountability Office (GAO) of the policies and practices of federal science agencies to ensure openness in scientific communication. Mikulski is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over more than 80 percent of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program budget and also the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The request specifically refers to allegations that climate scientists at NASA and NOAA are restricted in their public communications. Climate Science Watch will provide, as appropriate, information from our investigation that we have found useful in understanding this problem.
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EPA continues to screen all interviews with scientists
Posted on Thursday, February 16, 2006
Despite growing concerns about political interference with science, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is requiring prior headquarters approval for all communications by its scientists with the media, according to an internal EPA e-mail that was released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The document in PDF format: EPA_media_email_15Feb06.pdf
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Jim Hansen: NOAA “by fiat” put out “biased information” on hurricanes
Posted on Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Jim Hansen of NASA made a presentation (5.1 MB download) on February 10 at a conference on Politics and Science in New York City. In the talk he said: “NOAA took an official position that global warming was not the cause of hurricane intensification, and as the public was glued to their television listening to reports from the Hurricane Center, that is the main message the public received. The topic is a complex one that the scientific community is working on, but it seems that the public, by fiat, received biased information. NOAA scientists were told not to dispute the Hurricane Center conclusion in public.”
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The NOAA Media Policy: Political pre-approval for public communication by scientists
Posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2006
The official NOAA Media Policy establishes a procedure that requires pre-clearance of contacts between NOAA scientists and the media. Under this policy, the NOAA Public Affairs office is designated as responsible for coordinating and approving media communications involving NOAA, including advisories, press releases, interviews, and other related media contacts. NOAA’s policy establishes a framework for politicization of decisions about public communication by federal climate scientists.
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Censorship of Federal Climate Scientists: The Critical Case of Jim Hansen
Posted on Friday, February 03, 2006
Jim Hansen, Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City, has challenged the Bush administrations effort to prevent him from speaking freely about his analysis of the dangers of global warming and the potentially catastrophic consequences of climate disruption. What Hansen is saying and doing is especially significant at this juncture, as an example of the vital public role of citizen-scientists—those who speak from a position of scientific expertise to play a role in the broader public discourse. Scientists, including federal scientists, should be supported in playing such a role, not threatened with “dire consequences.” If we can establish the principle of freedom of public communication by federal climate scientists, unimpeded by political and ideological pressure, then others may be emboldened to also come forward into a more open public discourse.
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About Climate Science Watch
Posted on Wednesday, February 01, 2006
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.
Climate Science Watch is sponsored by the
Government Accountability Project
1612 K Street, NW Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20006
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Links
Posted on Wednesday, February 01, 2006
In this posting, we provide links to a few key Web sites.
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