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 |
Censorship of Government Scientists
The ability of our society and public officials to make good decisions about climate change depends on uncensored and unimpeded communication about the findings of scientific research and scientifically based assessments of key issues.
Major First Amendment groups condemn government censorship of science about global warming
Posted on Monday, February 12, 2007
Nine prominent First Amendment organizations issued a statement warning of the consequences of suppression or distortion of information that is essential to sound public policy and government accountability and applauding the January 30 House Oversight and Government Reform hearing on political interference with federal climate scientists. The statement was organized by the National Coalition Against Censorship.
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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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10,600 scientists have signed statement condemning Administration political interference in science
Posted on Sunday, December 24, 2006
The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) announced at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union that a statement by Nobel laureates and other leading scientists calling for the restoration of scientific integrity to federal policy making has now been signed by 10,600 scientists from all 50 states. The director of the UCS Scientific Integrity Program called on the new Congress to “enact meaningful reforms so decisions within federal scientific agencies and advisory committees are based on objective and unbiased science.” Climate Science Watch will call the new Congress’ attention to how this principle should be applied to holding the Administration accountable for ensuring the integrity of communication about climate change research.
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“Bush administration censorship key issue in next Congress”
Posted on Saturday, November 18, 2006
Nearly a year after NASA climatologist James Hansen accused federal officials of censoring his views on global warming, scientific freedom is shaping up as a key issue for the next Congress, Environment & Energy Daily reported in its #1 story on November 17. We said to E&E Daily: “Mr. Waxman and Mr. Gordon [incoming chairs of the House Government Reform and Science committees] have both been on the case, even as ranking members in the current Congress. I don’t think they’re going to be stonewalled without some kind of response.” We also expect legislation that would offer federal scientists improved whistleblower protections.
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“Undermining Science: Suppression and Distortion in the Bush Administration” published
Posted on Saturday, November 18, 2006
Yesterday we picked up a copy of the just-published book, Undermining Science: Suppression and Distortion in the Bush Administration, by Seth Shulman. Shulman, an investigative journalist, authored the Union of Concerned Scientists report, “Restoring Scientific Integrity in Policy Making,” which served as the basis for a highly publicized scientists’ statement accusing the Bush administration of misuse of science. Check it out, as a companion to Chris Mooney’s outstanding The Republican War on Science.
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Sen. Kerry statement in support of lawsuit on National Assessment of Climate Change Impacts
Posted on Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Senator Kerry issued a statement on November 14 supporting a lawsuit filed by conservation advocates—the Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace, and Friends of the Earth—calling for the administration to issue an overdue National Assessment on the impacts of climate change on the United States. Climate Science Watch encourages Congressional interest and oversight on this issue, to undo almost six years of allowing the administration to suppress the National Assessment process, and almost six years of allowing the first National Assessment to be slandered by the global warming denial machine without a principled defense by the leadership of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program.
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“Science Fiction”—PBS “America’s Investigative Reports” program on science reporter Paul Thacker
Posted on Thursday, November 09, 2006
The next episode of the PBS “America’s Investigative Reports” program, titled “Science Fiction,” will feature investigative science reporter Paul Thacker, who has published significant stories on global warming deniers and censorship of climate science. Paul published a good interview with CSW director Rick Piltz in June 2005 in Environmental Science & Technology, a publication for which he worked as Associate Editor until recently forced out of his position. The program airs in the Washington, DC, area on Friday, November 10 and Monday, November 13.
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NASA and Commerce Dept. Inspectors General investigating climate science censorship
Posted on Thursday, November 02, 2006
Responding to a request by 14 senators, agency Inspectors General at NASA and the Commerce Department have begun investigations into whether political appointees have suppressed research findings and blocked public communication by federal climate researchers. See our numerous posts on censorship of government scientists.
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National Coalition Against Censorship free speech defender honor for Climate Science Watch
Posted on Thursday, October 26, 2006
The National Coalition Against Censorship, an alliance of 50 national nonprofit organizations, held its annual celebration of free speech and its defenders on October 24, 2006, in New York City. NCAC honored Joe and Shirley Wershba, veteran journalists, writers and producers, whose credits include See it Now with Edward R. Murrrow, 60 Minutes, and The MacNeil/Lehrer Report; and Rick Piltz, Founder and Director of Climate Science Watch. NCAC has initiated The Knowledge Project: Censorship and Science, to address the clash between First Amendment principles of free expression and government suppression or distortion of scientific information.
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Global warming civil disobedience protest at NOAA headquarters
Posted on Monday, October 23, 2006
A pair of environmentalists, protesting what they said are attempts to suppress evidence of global warming, were arrested October 23 after spending several hours perched on a ledge at a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration building in Silver Spring, Maryland.
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House Science Committee ranking member seeks answers on Commerce Dept. cover-up of hurricane report
Posted on Tuesday, October 10, 2006
House Science Committee ranking member Bart Gordon (D-TN) has initiated an inquiry relating to a “FAQ” fact sheet on “Atlantic Hurricanes and Climate” that was developed by NOAA scientists. The science journal Nature reported on September 26 that the document “has been blocked by officials at the US Department of Commerce.” NOAA administrator Lautenbacher told Nature that it was simply an internal exercise designed to get researchers to respect each other’s points of view. However, Rep. Gordon released an internal NOAA e-mail that directly contradicts that statement and has sent investigative correspondence to Lautenbacher that asks for a response this week.
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Why the administration buried a NOAA scientists’ statement on hurricanes and climate
Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Officials at the Department of Commerce have been blocking the release of a new statement by federal climate scientists at NOAA on Atlantic hurricanes and climate. On September 27 a leaked copy of the statement was posted on the web (see “Details” for the text). We believe they decided to bury the statement because, albeit in a low-profile way, it acknowledges that global warming can increase hurricane intensity, and also the possibility that, because of global warming, the current active hurricane period could persist. That is a linkage the administration has taken pains to keep the public from making, for reasons having to do with the political fallout from Hurricane Katrina and the administration’s desire to fend off public pressure for a stronger global warming mitigation policy.
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60 Minutes “Rewriting the Science” global warming story re-airs this Sunday, July 30
Posted on Thursday, July 27, 2006
FYI, summer re-run time: The CBS 60 Minutes segment, which first aired on March 19, 2006, includes interviews with James Hansen, Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies; Ralph Cicerone, President of the National Academy of Sciences; and CSW Director Rick Piltz. The full hour-long program also will include a segment on “Bin Laden’s Bodyguard” and a profile by Ed Bradley of the rock group U2.
Hurricanes and global warming: A credibility challenge for the Climate Change Science Program
Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006
New research linking global warming and recent enhanced North Atlantic hurricane activity was funded by the National Science Foundation, a major participating agency in the U.S. Climate Change Science Program. Last year NOAA put out misleading, one-sided information about the state of knowledge on the connection between global warming and increased hurricane intensity. That cannot be allowed to happen again this year. Climate Science Watch challenges the CCSP leadership to insist on credible government communications on this subject.
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EPA’s global warming communication problem - 2. Censored websites
Posted on Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Selective censorship of media contacts is not the only means by which communication about global warming and climate change has been stifled at the Environmental Protection Agency. EPA’s main global warming website and its Global Change Research Program site look for the most part like they were frozen in 2002—about the time that the White House Council on Environmental Quality started more aggressively policing federal communications on global warming.
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