White House refuses to release climate policy documents

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

The United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing today on the accusation that the Bush Administration had interfered with data regarding climate change in order "to mislead the public by injecting doubt into the science of global warming." On January 23, 2007, Chairman Henry Waxman (D) and Tom Davis (R) had requested documents from the Council on Environmental Quality but were denied access.

Waxman said that, "The committee isn't trying to obtain state secrets or documents that could affect our immediate national security. We are simply seeking answers to whether the White House's political staff is inappropriately censoring impartial government scientists. We know that the White House possesses documents that contain evidence of an attempt by senior administration officials to mislead the public by injecting doubt into the science of global warming and minimize the potential danger."

During the hearing, two private advocacy groups, one of which was the Union of Concerned Scientists, also presented a survey to the panel that revealed that 279 scientists working for the government had been pressured into minimizing the threat of global warming in their reports. Almost half of the 279 said that they were told to delete any references to "global warming" or "climate change" in their reports. The scientists in the survey all worked for a wide array of government agencies: NASA, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, and the Department of Interior.

Sources

Report alleges widespread political interference in climate science. <broken link> — Boston Herald, January 30, 2007
Waxman seeks climate inquiry evidence <broken link> — Houston Chronicle, January 30, 2007
Groups Allege Pressure on Global Warming <broken link> — New York Times, January 30, 2007
Bush administration in hot seat over warming <broken link> [archived version] — MSNBC, January 30, 2007
Hearing Will Question Political Influence on Government Climate Change Scientists <broken link> [archived version] — United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, January 23, 2007

External links

United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform - Homepage

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