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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 |
Climate Science Watch
Talks and reports by Climate Science Watch, and news about us
Earthbeat interview: Looking ahead on climate science integrity
Posted on Tuesday, November 11, 2008
In an election day radio interview, CSW director Rick Piltz talked about climate science integrity issues and looked ahead to what’s needed from the next administration. See Details for text of Q&A.
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New GAP whistleblower series debuts on Free Speech TV with panel on scientific integrity
Posted on Sunday, October 19, 2008
"Whistle Where You Work,” a series dedicated to whistleblowers and occupational free speech, accountability and transparency issues, produced by the Government Accountability Project, has begun airing on the Free Speech TV network. We are interviewed on one of the first programs, which looks at the assault on scientific integrity by the Bush administration and asks, will the new administration advance scientific freedoms?
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Sierra: On staffing to restore integrity to the environmental and public lands agencies
Posted on Tuesday, September 30, 2008
“Profiles in Courage,” an article in the September/October issue of Sierra, the magazine of the Sierra Club, says “When it comes time to staff the environmental agencies, the next president could do worse than pick from those who stood up for public health and lands at the expense of their own careers.”
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Notes on Conrad Lautenbacher’s troubled legacy on science and politics at NOAA (Part 2)
Posted on Friday, September 26, 2008
Any assessment of the tenure of Conrad Lautenbacher, who has resigned as NOAA Administrator effective October 31, will have to consider the problems of political interference with climate science communication and the mismanagement of the NPOESS satellite global climate monitoring project that happened on his watch. See Details for our earlier posts on these problems.
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NOAA head Lautenbacher resigns, leaving troubled legacy on science and politics (Part 1)
Posted on Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Vice Adm. Conrad Lautenbacher, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration throughout the Bush administration, announced his resignation on Sept. 23. While he has accomplishments to his credit, Lautenbacher’s view of himself as part of a chain of command between the Bush-Cheney White House and the NOAA research enterprise led him and some of his subordinates to be associated with a record of political interference with science communication. We told Climate Wire (by subscription) that one area of concern during Lautenbacher’s tenure was the handling by NOAA and its parent department, Commerce, of contacts between climate scientists and the media.
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CREW: “Those Who Dared: 30 Officials Who Stood Up for Our Country”
Posted on Saturday, September 20, 2008
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington released its report, Those Who Dared: 30 Officials Who Stood Up for Our Country, on July 16, “recognizing the brave individuals who have acted and spoken out against unethical and dishonorable conduct in the Bush administration.” (news release) (full report, 3.2 MB)
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Climate change science and government action: Interview on KPFK-FM Los Angeles
Posted on Thursday, July 24, 2008
CSW director Rick Piltz was interviewed on July 21 on the new federal scientific assessment of the effects of climate change on human health and welfare in the US, the Bush administration’s record, Al Gore’s speech on transforming the energy system, and the role of government.
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“Beyond the Phony ‘Debate’: Government Science and the Climate Crisis”
Posted on Monday, July 14, 2008
“Since the beginning of President Bush’s second term, we have made great progress against the global warming denial machine. Clearly, the position that humans are not changing the climate no longer has any political traction,” said CSW director Rick Piltz at the Center for Science and the Public Interest’s national conference on Rejuvenating Public Sector Science on July 11. But looking forward, the federal government is far from where we need it to be in dealing with the threat of global climatic disruption. See Details for full text.
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“A Climate Hero: An Outspoken Truth”
Posted on Friday, June 20, 2008
The Worldwatch Institute and Grist have posted a three-part series (part 3 here and here) commemorating the 20-year anniversary of NASA scientist James Hansen’s groundbreaking testimony on global climate change next week. We spoke with the reporter for part 3: “Jim did a great deal to help unmask the Bush administration’s collusion with the global warming disinformation campaign. He’s a bit like a lone wolf. Nobody can tell him what to say or what to do. They made a mistake when they tried to mess with him.”
“Rejuvenating Public Sector Science” – CSPI’s Fourth National Integrity in Science Conference
Posted on Thursday, June 19, 2008
The Center for Science in the Public Interest’s daylong Integrity in Science Conference in Washington, DC, July 11, will forge an agenda for independent regulatory science and protecting public sector scientists from political meddling and corporate influence. Jim Hansen of NASA will speak on the “Threat to the Planet: The Dark and Bright Sides of Global Warming.” CSW Director Rick Piltz will participate in a panel on Government Science and the Climate Crisis.
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Wake Up Call: Interview on WBAI-FM New York City
Posted on Sunday, June 08, 2008
In a June 3 interview on the program Wake Up Call on WBAI-FM, the Pacifica station in New York, CSW director Rick Piltz talked about the scientific assessment of climate change released released May 29 by the U.S. government, the Bush administration’s record on climate change science and policy, the global warming disinformation campaign, and the need for national climate change preparedness. See Details for archived webcast information.
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Bush administration moves toward the climate science mainstream – Rick Piltz interview
Posted on Friday, June 06, 2008
With the release by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, under court order, of a scientific assessment report summarizing the evidence on climate change, the administration has taken a notable, if reluctant, step toward acknowledging the likelihood of a wide range of dangerous impacts of global climatic disruption on the United States, says Climate Science Watch director Rick Piltz in a June interview on Coffee House TV. Piltz discusses the failure of decision-relevant climate change assessment under the current administration and the need for reform under the next. Also, Piltz notes that former White House press secretary Scott McClellan’s valuable memoir, What Happened, didn’t manage to cover McClellan’s own involvement with spinning White House political interference with climate science communication.
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4th National Integrity in Science Conference on Rejuvenating Public Sector Science - July 11, 2008
Posted on Friday, May 16, 2008
Register now for the 4th National Integrity in Science Conference in Washington, DC, July 11, 2008. Meet with activists, scientists, and academics in our nation’s capital to discuss the diminished budgets, political interference, and declining morale that plague regulatory science. Brainstorm ways to shore up public sector science and revivify the environmental and public health protections that rely on a strong scientific foundation. Climate Science Watch is a co-sponsor of this event and CSW Director Rick Piltz will participate on a panel on “Tackling the Climate Crisis: Unleashing Government Research.”
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Have things changed? What reforms are needed? Remarks at Whistleblower Week in Washington
Posted on Thursday, May 15, 2008
Climate Science Watch director Rick Piltz spoke at a Whistleblower Week in Washington event May 12, on a panel on “Scientific Freedom and the Public Good.” In addition to comments in response to questions about his own experience, he talked about the current situation with the Bush administration and the future direction of the federal climate research program and its relationship to society. See Details for full text.
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Whistleblower Week in Washington DC panel May 12 on Scientific Freedom and the Public Good
Posted on Thursday, May 08, 2008
Scientific censorship on a range of issues including climate change will be the subject of a panel as Government Accountability Project Whistleblower Week in Washington DC events kick off on May 12. Panelists will include Celia Wexler and Tim Donaghy of the Union of Concerned Scientists, FDA drug safety whistleblower David Ross, and Climate Science Watch director Rick Piltz.
[UPDATE posted on May 15: “Have things changed? What reforms are needed? Remarks at Whistleblower Week in Washington”
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