quote:

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A growing number of scientists, policy makers,
and technical specialists both inside and outside
the government allege that the current Bush ad-
ministration has suppressed or distorted the scien-
tific analyses of federal agencies to bring these results
in line with administration policy.In addition,
these experts contend that irregularities in the
appointment of scientifi c advisors and advisory
panels are threatening to upset the legally man-
dated balance of these bodies.
----
To determine the validity of the allegations,
UCS reviewed the public record,
obtained internal government documents,
and conducted interviews with many of the parties
involved (including current and former government
officials).
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DISTORTING AND SUPPRESSING
CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH
Since taking office, the Bush administration
has consistently sought to undermine the public ’s
understanding of the view held by the vast majority
of climate scientists that human-caused emissions
of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases
are making a discernible contribution to global
warming.

After coming to office, the administration asked
the National Academy of Sciences (NAS)to review
the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) and provide further assess-
ment of what climate science could say about this
issue.2 The NAS panel rendered a strong opinion,
which, in essence, confirmed that of the IPCC. The
American Geophysical Union, the world ’s largest
organization of earth scientists, has also released
a strong statement describing human-caused dis-
ruptions of Earth ’s climate.3 Yet Bush administra-
tion spokespersons continue to contend that the
uncertainties in climate projections and fossil fuel
emissions are too great to warrant mandatory
action to slow emissions.

In May 2002,President Bush expressed dis-
dain for a State Department report  to the United
Nations that pointed to a clear human role in the
accumulation of heat-trapping gases and detailed
the likely negative consequences of climate change;
the president called it “a report put out by the
bureaucracy.”  In September 2002, the adminis-
tration removed a section on climate change from
the Environmental Protection Agency ’s (EPA)
annual air pollution report, even though the
climate issue had been discussed in the report
for the preceding five years.

Then,in one well-documented case,the Bush
administration blatantly tampered with the inte-
grity of scientifi c analysis at a federal agency when,
in June 2003,the White House tried to make
a series of changes to the EPA ’s draft Report on
the Environment.

A front-page article in the New York Times
broke the news that White House offi cials tried
to force the EPA to substantially alter the report ’s
section on climate change.The EPA report,which
referenced the NAS review and other studies,stated
that human activity is contributing significantly
to climate change.

Interviews with current and former EPA staff,
as well as an internal EPA memo reviewed for this
report (see Appendix A) reveal that the White
House Council on Environmental Quality and
the Office of Management and Budget demanded
major amendments including:

The deletion of a temperature record covering
1,000 years in order to, according to the EPA
memo, emphasize “a recent, limited analysis
[which ] supports the administration ’s favored
message.”

The removal of any reference to the NAS
review —requested by the White House itself
—that confirmed human activity is contrib-
uting to climate change.

The insertion of a reference to a discredited
study of temperature records funded in part by
the American Petroleum Institute.

The elimination of the summary statement —
noncontroversial within the science communi-
ty that studies climate change —that “climate
change has global consequences for human
health and the environment.”

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[An accompanying statement] was signed by more than half a dozen high-profile Republicans, including Lewis Branscomb, director of the National Bureau of Standards under Nixon; Richard Garwin, a member of the Presidential Science Advisory Committee under Nixon; W. K. H. Panofsky, a PSAC member under Eisenhower; and Norman Ramsey, science advisor to NATO under Eisenhower. Russell Train, administrator of the EPA under Nixon and Ford, has also been publicly supportive … 'I don't see it as a partisan issue at all … If it becomes that way, it's because the White House chooses to make it a partisan issue.'

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“Across a broad range of issues, the administration has undermined the quality of the scientific advisory system and the morale of the government’s outstanding scientific personnel,” said Dr. Kurt Gottfried, emeritus professor of physics at Cornell University and Chairman of the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Whether the issue is lead paint, clean air or climate change, this behavior has serious consequences for all Americans.”

“Science, to quote President Bush's father, the former president, relies on freedom of inquiry and objectivity,” said Russell Train, head of the Environmental Protection Agency under Nixon and Ford, who joined the scientists in calling for action. “But this administration has obstructed that freedom and distorted that objectivity in ways that were unheard of in any previous administration.”

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Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again...
http://www.cmlb.net/ringo

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More recently (after Whitman fled the agency, declaring, like departing CIA Director George Tenet, that she needed to "spend more time with my family"), the White House ordered the EPA to pretend that poisonous mercury is not a toxic pollutant – even while the Food and Drug Administration was warning pregnant women of the risks associated with eating mercury-contaminated fish. A proposed EPA rule was politically doctored by the White House to include language supplied by lawyers from coal-fired power companies.


These ham-fisted White House maneuvers all have one thing in common: they all distort administration policies to favor big coal and coal-burning electric companies – the source of millions of dollars in campaign contributions to the Republican Party and to the Bush-Cheney re-election effort in particular.

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Like scattered leaves...my words will flow

[This message has been edited by Sudhir Iyer (06-17-2004 10:12 AM).]