Global warming and scientific integrity
Global warming, much or all of it man induced, is a certainty, and its likely consequences are disastrous. Pressure of governments on scientists to withhold the facts from the public are therefore particularly dangerous. Below some recent information on this point.
BY J. SCOTT ORR
STAR-LEDGER WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON — A leading scientist told a House committee yesterday that “political interference is harming federal science and threatening the health and safety of Americans,” and the committee chairman said the Bush White House has been misleading the public on the dangers of global warming.
“Political interference with the work of federal scientists threatens the quality and integrity of (federal) policies,” said Francesca Grifo, director of the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Scientific Integrity Program.
According to a UCS survey whose findings were presented to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, more than 40 percent of the 279 scientists who responded said their work had been edited to more closely reflect the administration’s position on climate change.
“No scientist should ever encounter any of the various types of political interference described in our survey questions,” Grifo told the committee, which is looking at the government’s response to climate change.
The panel chairman, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), said he has seen evidence the administration has been trying to mislead the public on global warming.
“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 minimizing the potential dangers,” he said.
Waxman demanded that the documents be turned over to his committee. He said he has been rebuffed in his efforts so far.
“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,” he said.
Most scientists believe global warming is caused by greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide from vehicles and industrial sources, that keep heat from the sun trapped in the atmosphere.
President Bush acknowledged the existence of climate change in his Jan. 23 State of the Union address, though he did not use the term “global warming.”
(downloaded January 31, 2007)
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, February 3, 2007, the American Enterprise Institute, financed by large American oil companies, has offered bribes to scientists to discredit the reliability of the recent UN climate change report, compiled by a large number of scientists from around the world.