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

Whistleblowers

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.

Bill Moyers speech on receiving 2008 Ridenhour Courage Prize

Posted on Wednesday, April 09, 2008

In his acceptance speech Moyers said: “You will learn more about who wins and who loses in the real business of politics, which is governance, from the public interest truth-tellers of Washington than you will from an established press tethered to official sources. The Government Accountability Project…and from whistleblowers of all sorts… See Details for the full text of his incisive and inspiring remarks at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, on April 3.

House subcommittee hearing April 1 on FEMA toxic trailers and mistreatment of CDC whistleblower

Posted on Monday, March 31, 2008

Tomorrow (April 1) the House Science Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee will hold a hearing (“Toxic Trailers: Have the Centers for Disease Control Failed to Protect Public Health?”) to further investigate the belated discovery of high levels of formaldehyde in trailers that FEMA provided to displaced Katrina victims. The hearing (also webcast) will feature testimony by Dr. Christopher De Rosa, former toxicology director at the CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, testifying after being unfairly demoted and placed on a termination track for fighting to tell the truth about formaldehyde’s toxicity. We applaud DeRosa’s public service, including his decision to be a whistleblower.

House-Senate conferees should report strong Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act bill

Posted on Thursday, January 03, 2008

A January 3 editorial in the St. Petersburg (FL) Times, “Protect the Whistleblowers,” calling on Congress to strengthen the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act and override a presidential veto if necessary, leads with: “Were it not for the disclosures of Rick Piltz of the White House Climate Change Science Program, the public might never have known that Bush administration appointees, including an oil industry lobbyist, altered the conclusions of the country’s top scientists in order to subvert concern over global warming. Piltz is one of thousands of whistleblowers who help make our government more accountable.” But: “The Whistleblower Protection Act is no longer serving its initial purpose....According to the Government Accountability Project, a nonpartisan organization devoted to protecting whistleblowers, in the last 13 years whistleblowers have suffered a 2-to-183 losing streak before the one federal appellate court to which they may appeal.” See Details for full text and Piltz note.

Screw-up at House Judiciary Committee sends whistleblower e-mail addresses to Cheney

Posted on Thursday, November 01, 2007

The Washington Post reported on October 31 that “the House Judiciary Committee, after promising strict confidentiality, inadvertently sent the e-mail addresses of Justice Department whistle-blowers out to all those who have used a special tip line.” Vice President Cheney’s office got all 150 of the e-mail addresses. The Committee’s failure to design an effective system for dealing with confidential information strikes at the heart of one of the key reasons people hesitate to become whistleblowers—that they won’t be protected.

“The War on Whistleblowers”

Posted on Thursday, November 01, 2007

An excellent November 1 article in Salon details the current degenerate state of federal whistleblower protections. Whistleblowers cannot rely on their legal rights for an official victory, no matter how valid their charges nor how important the issues. The article points to the need for legislative reform and also suggests to us that, in addition to legal counsel, whistleblowers with strong cases should have the support of skilled, aggressive public interest advocacy, the media spotlight, and political pressure in order to get favorable results.

GAP president Louis Clark: Whistleblowing at work now more dangerous

Posted on Monday, October 08, 2007

The protections for corporate workers established in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which was enacted in the wake of an epidemic of massive corporate fraud, have been gutted by the decisions of judges and bureaucrats.

GAP to honor whistleblowers and defenders at 30th anniversary gala September 26

Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Tomorrow, September 26, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) will celebrate its 30th anniversary and recognize the vital importance of whistleblowing in society. At the event, guest-hosted by Erin Brockovich, GAP will honor several whistleblowers and congressional champions of government accountability, public safety, and whistleblower protections.

Hurricane Center Director Proenza charges NOAA violated Whistleblower Protection Act

Posted on Friday, August 03, 2007

In a letter from his lawyers to officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Bill Proenza, who in July was removed from his position as director of the National Hurricane Center, charges that this action by administration officials violated the Whistleblower Protection Act.

Senate committee advances whistleblower protection bill but leaves out protection for scientists

Posted on Wednesday, June 13, 2007

On June 13 the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee advanced legislation that would restore the mandate of the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA), which has been gutted by judicial activism since 1994. However, while the legislation would strengthen protections for federal whistleblowers who expose waste, fraud and abuse of power, it fails to address scientists who expose the manipulation, distortion, or suppression of their work.

Wolfowitz resignation follows release of multiple documents by the Government Accountability Project

Posted on Thursday, May 17, 2007

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is leaving the international organization in the wake of wide-ranging scandals following the release of multiple internal Bank documents by the Government Accountability Project (GAP). This debacle shows the need for a whistleblower protection policy at the Bank. Climate Science Watch is a program of GAP. On April 26 we posted a news report on a Wolfowitz deputy’s efforts to undercut climate change text in a World Bank strategy paper. See Details for the full text of GAP’s press release.

C-Span webcast of Whistleblower Week panel on “Scientific Integrity and Individual Conscience”

Posted on Tuesday, May 15, 2007

C-Span has an archived webcast of the May 14 Washington Whistleblower Week panel on “Scientific Integrity and Individual Conscience.”

Whistleblower Week in Washington: Panel on “Scientific Integrity & Individual Conscience”

Posted on Wednesday, May 09, 2007

CSW Director Rick Piltz will participate on a panel on “Scientific Integrity & Individual Conscience” to help kick off “Whistleblower Week in Washington,” May 14-18, a week of activities designed to promote protections for government and corporate whistleblowers. This is billed as the largest gathering of whistleblowers and related public interest groups in U.S. history. We invite you to attend the events.

Wolfowitz deputy’s efforts to undercut climate change text in World Bank strategy paper

Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007

One of Paul Wolfowitz’s two handpicked deputies, Juan José Daboub, tried to water down references to climate change in one of the World Bank’s main environmental strategy papers, the bank’s chief scientist Robert Watson told the Financial Times. In Dr. Watson, Daboub picked the wrong person to try to get around in Cooney-izing climate change text in an official report.

House approves landmark whistleblower legislation with protection for scientific freedom

Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007

The Government Accountability Project (GAP) hailed the March 14 House of Representatives floor vote approving H.R. 985, the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act, legislation that overhauls federal whistleblower law. Among its numerous provisions, the bill would create specific protection in the law for scientific freedom, making it an abuse of authority to censor, obstruct dissemination, or misrepresent the results of federal research. For the last seven years, GAP has led a campaign working toward this reform’s enactment. The margin of victory is large enough to overcome a veto threatened by the administration

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