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.
EPA’s global warming communication problem - 1. Censored expertise
Posted on Tuesday, June 27, 2006
The New York Times reported on June 20 that EPA’s leading expert on the implications of sea level rise for U.S. coastal areas was prohibited from responding on the record to questions for an article on global warming and beaches. We know of two other reporters with major news publications who also recently encountered the same problem at EPA. The agency’s political watchdogs should be told to back off.
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Lieberman calls on White House and NOAA to address climate science censorship allegations
Posted on Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Raising the possibility of a concerted effort by the Administration to restrict openness on climate change research, Sen. Joe Lieberman today called on Dr. John Marburger III, White House Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, to investigate and address allegations that federal agencies have sought to cover-up or edit scientific information related to climate change. Lieberman also wrote to Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, the Administrator of NOAA, calling on him to take action on recent reports that NOAA officials have been discouraging agency scientists from sharing their findings on climate change.
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NASA acknowledges case of censoring Jim Hansen communication
Posted on Wednesday, June 14, 2006
In a June 6 letter to Senators Collins (R-ME) and Lieberman (D-CT), NASA acknowledged that the agency had inappropriately restricted public communication by Dr. James Hansen by preventing him from responding to a media interview request. Sen. Lieberman’s response noted that new charges of suppressing climate science also have arisen at three other agencies.
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BBC Panorama: Has the Bush administration covered up the findings of global warming scientists?
Posted on Wednesday, June 07, 2006
BBC-TV News Panorama (the longest-running public affairs television program in the world) aired “Bush’s Climate of Fear” on BBC One on Sunday, 4 June 2006, as part of their series “Climate Chaos” (archived webcast). This 40-minute documentary includes interviews with Robert Corell (Chair, Arctic Climate Impact Assessment), James Hansen (Director, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies), James Connaughton (Chair, White House Council on Environmental Quality), Thomas Knutson (NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory), Jerry Mahlman (National Center for Atmospheric Research), Frank Luntz (Republican pollster and strategist) and Climate Science Watch Director Rick Piltz.
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NOAA censors speech by science experts on endangered salmon
Posted on Sunday, June 04, 2006
The Washington Post reported May 31 that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has directed that questions about endangered salmon—which the agency is responsible for protecting—are to be answered only by headquarters, and then only by three officials, all political appointees. Scientists and other agency officials who actually work on the salmon studies aren’t supposed to answer reporters’ questions. In a June 3 editorial, “A Fishy Policy: The Bush administration’s big chill on speech isn’t limited to global warming,” the Post calls NOAA’s justification for the policy “Orwellian” and says: “You’d think the Bush administration would have learned its lesson with James Hansen and global warming. Apparently not.”
Rep. David Wu requests GAO investigation of science manipulation and censorship
Posted on Tuesday, May 09, 2006
The Climate Science Watch blog returns to action:
On May 2, Congressman David Wu (D-OR), ranking member of the Science Subcommittee on
Environment, Technology and Standards, requested a congressional Government Accountability Office investigation into allegations of scientific manipulation and censorship by the administration. The request raises questions about NASA, the Bureau of Land Management, EPA, NOAA, and the U.S. Geological Survey.
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House Science Committee Chair Calls for Reform of NOAA Public Affairs Policy
Posted on Wednesday, April 12, 2006
House Science Committee Chair Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) sent a letter on April 7 to Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in response to an April 6 story in The Washington Post on concerns expressed by NOAA scientists. In the letter Mr. Boehlert says: “The issue of climate change is too important to countenance any scientists feeling intimidated or constrained about discussing the matter...” and calls on Lautenbacher to “swiftly” take five specific steps to remedy the problem.
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Thomas Jefferson Center gives 2006 “Muzzle” award to Rep. Joe Barton
Posted on Wednesday, April 12, 2006
On April 11, the 2006 Annual Jefferson Muzzle Awards were announced by the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression in Charlottesville, Virginia. For 15 years, the Jefferson Muzzle Awards have “honored” those individuals and institutions that committed the more egregious or ridiculous acts of censorship in the past year. Among the “winners” of the 2006 Jefferson Muzzles is U.S. Representative Joe Barton—“For taking action that appears to blur the line between scientific research and politics.”
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Washington Post reports “Climate Researchers Feeling Heat From White House”
Posted on Sunday, April 09, 2006
On April 6 the Washington Post ran a 1400-word article on political interference with federal climate scientists, focusing primarily on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The article draws on interviews with several scientists who report instances in which they contend that administration political pressure has impeded the flow of scientific communication about climate change and its implications. Two of the cases discussed in the article involve James R. Mahoney, until very recently the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Director of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program.
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Government Accountability Project memo to climate scientists on new NASA media policy
Posted on Sunday, April 02, 2006
In December 2005, NASA climate scientist Dr. James Hansen was threatened with “dire consequences” by a political appointee for statements he made about the implications of climate change that were seen as inconsistent with the administration’s political agenda. In the wake of strong public criticism of this heavy-handed attempt at censorship, on March 30 NASA Administrator Michael Griffin released a statement and a new information policy to govern how the agency will deal with the news media. An analysis of the new policy by the Government Accountability Project (GAP) identifies areas that GAP considers an improvement, but also says “in six critical areas the new policy falls short of genuine scientific freedom and accountability, and potentially undermines the positive guarantees.”
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ABC News: Was Confusion Over Global Warming a Con Job?
Posted on Sunday, April 02, 2006
On March 26 ABC News aired two back-to-back segments on global warming. One addressed the question: “The vast majority of scientists have determined global warming to be a real threat. So why has it taken so long to convince Americans?” The story included interviews with Virginia state climatologist Pat Michaels, journalist Ross Gelbspan, and Rick Piltz of Climate Science Watch. The text of the story, “Was Confusion Over Global Warming a Con Job? Some Claim Disinformation Campaign Attempted to Create the Impression Scientists Were Broadly Divided,” was posted on the ABC World News Tonight Web site.
Senators call for National Academy auditing of government reports on climate change
Posted on Wednesday, March 29, 2006
An announcement posted March 29 on Senator Frank Lautenberg’s Web site begins: “In an effort to prevent future government reports dealing with the issue of climate change from being altered by White House political aides, several members of the United States Senate called for all future reports to be audited by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).” Senators Lautenberg, Inouye, and Kerry in a letter sent March 29, urged Dr. James Mahoney, the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Director of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, to put in place procedures that would give the NAS oversight for future government climate science reports, including the annual Our Changing Planet report.
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Providence Journal: “NOAA hiding truth about hurricanes, scientists say”
Posted on Wednesday, March 29, 2006
The Providence [R.I.] Journal looked into charges that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration leadership has misled the public by putting forward a one-sided view on the current scientific debate about the relationship between hurricane intensity and global warming, and by misrepresenting the current state of scientific understanding. They found a NOAA climate scientist who couldn’t talk without a political pre-clearance from NOAA management, and a public affairs officer who steers the press to a scientist who voices what appears to be the agency’s party line.
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CBS News “60 Minutes” airs global warming story on “Re-Writing the Science”
Posted on Tuesday, March 21, 2006
On March 19 CBS “60 Minutes” aired the second part of a two-part global warming story. The segment, entitled “Re-Writing the Science,” focused on political impediments to public communication of climate science findings, drawing on interviews with Jim Hansen, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies; Ralph Cicerone, President of the National Academy of Sciences; and Rick Piltz, director of Climate Science Watch.
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285 NASA scientists and engineers sign statement of support for Jim Hansen and open public dialogue
Posted on Thursday, March 16, 2006
As of noon on March 16, 285 NASA scientists and engineers have signed a ”Statement of support for NASA’s commitment to openness.” The statement “fully supports Dr. Hansen in his professional capacity to continue alerting the public about global warming” and encourages “all NASA affiliated scientists and engineers to openly present their expertise for the public good.”
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