WH climate lies and manipulations

White House’s manipulation of climate science.

A new report by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee concludes that the Bush administration has “engaged in a systematic effort to manipulate climate change science and mislead policymakers and the public about the dangers of global warming.” Highlights from the report:

– The White House censored climate change scientists. When Dr. Thomas Karl, Director of National Climatic Data Center, appeared before the House Oversight Committee in 2006, he was barred from saying in his written testimony that “modern climate change is dominated by human influences.” His “assertion that global warming ‘is playing’ a role in increased hurricane intensity became ‘may play.’”

– The White House extensively edited climate change reports. At one point, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) “made at least 294 edits to the Administration’s Strategic Plan of the Climate Change Science Program to exaggerate or emphasize scientific uncertainties or to deemphasize or diminish the importance of the human role in global warming.”

– The White House muzzled environmental administration staffers. “The White House also edited a 2002 op-ed by EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman to ensure that it followed the White House line on climate change. Despite objections from EPA, CEQ insisted on repeating an unsupported assertion that millions of American jobs would be lost if the Kyoto Protocol were ratified.”

(Think Progress)