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 |
Climate Science Watch testimony at House Oversight Hearing
Posted on Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Testimony of Rick Piltz, Director, Climate Science Watch, Government Accountability Project, Washington, DC, Before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives, Hearing on “Allegations of Political Interference With the Work of Government Climate Change Scientists.” The testimony also is available as a PDF file.
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Investigation Documents Political Interference with Climate Science Communication
Posted on Tuesday, January 30, 2007
An investigative report by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and the Government Accountability Project (GAP) has uncovered new evidence of widespread political interference in federal climate science.
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CSW Director Rick Piltz will testify at House Oversight Committee hearing January 30
Posted on Monday, January 29, 2007
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hold a hearing on “Allegations of Political Interference With the Work of Government Climate Change Scientists” on Tuesday, January 30, at 10:00 a.m., in Room 2157, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC. We will post our testimony on this Web site at the time of the hearing.
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Senate Commerce Committee to hold hearing on Climate Change Research and Scientific Integrity
Posted on Friday, January 26, 2007
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will hold a hearing on Wednesday, February 7, on “Climate Change Research and Scientific Integrity.”
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New House Science Oversight Subcommittee
Posted on Thursday, January 25, 2007
A supporter of whistleblower protections will chair a new House Science and Technology Oversight Subcommittee that could focus on matters of science censorship.
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House Oversight Hearing Will Question Political Influence on Government Climate Scientists
Posted on Wednesday, January 24, 2007
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hold a hearing on January 30 regarding political interference in the work of government climate scientists. The Committee has requested that the White House Council on Environmental Quality provide detailed documentation on CEQ’s role under the Bush administration in influencing the communication of climate change science.
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Exxon Mobil takes first steps to accept climate change science and cut funding of the denial machine
Posted on Monday, January 22, 2007
Exxon Mobil, beginning to reposition itself on climate change policy, acknowledged that climate science has identified risks that call for action and confirmed that it has stopped funding the Competitive Enterprise Institute and several other groups that have pushed global warming denialism.
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Premiering today at the Sundance Film Festival: “Everything’s Cool”
Posted on Friday, January 19, 2007
Everything's Cool, a new documentary film featuring a number of "global warming messengers on a high-stakes quest," will have its world premiere screening on January 19 at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
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House Oversight and Reform Committee may question individuals under oath during investigations
Posted on Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Environment & Energy Daily reports: “House Democrats have granted their lead oversight committee the right to privately question witnesses under oath during investigations, adding a powerful tool to a panel poised to dig into the Bush administration’s climate change policies.” We told E&E Daily: “When you have a stonewalling administration and you have the executive branch using its evasive maneuvers, the ability to put people under oath...is potentially a very valuable tool.”
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Polar bear decision “a rare case of science actually triumphing over politics”
Posted on Tuesday, January 09, 2007
The Center for Biological Diversity, which brought the lawsuit that forced the Interior Department to make a decision under the Endangered Species Act about proposing to list the polar bear as threatened, says in an Op-Ed in the Los Angeles Times: “This proposal marks the first legally binding admission by the Bush administration of the reality of global warming....The Bush administration could refuse only by denying the science of global warming. So protecting the polar bear was the only decision it could legally make.”
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Interior Secretary misrepresented agency report deeming polar bears threatened
Posted on Monday, January 08, 2007
In discussing his department’s proposed designation of the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, Secretary of the Interior Kempthorne said to reporters: (1) that the conclusion in the report by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service scientists that the threat to the polar bear’s survival due to loss of critical sea ice habitat is not related to analysis of the causes of climate change; and (2) that sea ice loss was the sole “factor” leading to the designation of the polar bear as threatened. Neither of these assertions is accurate. This is another example of why, in order to get past Administration spin, Congress and the media need to be able to talk directly with federal scientists.
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“Carbon neutral”—New Oxford American Dictionary’s 2006 “word of the year”
Posted on Monday, January 08, 2007
The New Oxford American Dictionary will add “carbon neutral’’ to this year’s editions, having named it 2006 “word of the year.” The editor in chief of the dictionary says, “Our goal is to choose a word that is on the cusp of ubiquity.” We also like Merriam-Webster’s word of the year—“truthiness”—something we’ve been calling attention to here in Washington.
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Congress: Ask Condi Rice, Why has the U.S. Climate Action Report been held up for more than a year?
Posted on Sunday, January 07, 2007
On January 11 Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is scheduled to appear before both the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House International Relations Committee to talk about the Administration’s position on Iraq. While Iraq is certainly more than enough of a problem to consume the committees’ attention, some committee member (Committee Chair Sen. Biden? Ranking Member Lugar? Boxer? Kerry? Obama? Hagel?) might want also to ask Secretary Rice a question about why the Administration has failed to issue the fourth U.S. Climate Action Report, a national communication that is required by the climate treaty to which the U.S. is a party. U.S. stonewalling on global warming cooperation has only added to the low regard in which the Administration is held internationally and has not helped U.S. relations with allies. Prolonged holding up of the Climate Action Report exemplifies the Administration’s failure to communicate. [Editor’s Note: See also the 30 July 2007 posting, Bush Administration submits evasive Climate Action Report to the UN.]
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New report from Union of Concerned Scientists documents ExxonMobil’s disinformation campaign
Posted on Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Smoke, Mirrors & Hot Air: How ExxonMobil Uses Big Tobacco’s Tactics to “Manufacture Uncertainty” on Climate Change, a report released today by the Union of Concerned Scientists, details how ExxonMobil has adopted the tobacco industry’s disinformation tactics, as well as some of the same organizations and personnel, to cloud the scientific understanding of climate change and delay action on the issue. The section of the report on “Buying Government Access” includes discussion of documentation we made available in 2005 and issues we have raised since then.
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