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News & Analysis | REG•WATCH Blog | Press Room
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
White House "edits" science report, yet again
Reporters must have a Mad Libs form somewhere -- "White House edits a scientific report on ______________ to ___________ the risks of _____________." It certainly happens a lot. Here's the latest, from the NY Times:
A White House official who once led the oil industry's fight against limits on greenhouse gases has repeatedly edited government climate reports in ways that play down links between such emissions and global warming, according to internal documents.
In handwritten notes on drafts of several reports issued in 2002 and 2003, the official, Philip A. Cooney, removed or adjusted descriptions of climate research that government scientists and their supervisors, including some senior Bush administration officials, had already approved.
Mr. Cooney is chief of staff for the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the office that helps devise and promote administration policies on environmental issues. Before coming to the White House in 2001, he was the "climate team leader" and a lobbyist at the American Petroleum Institute, the largest trade group representing the interests of the oil industry. A lawyer with a bachelor's degree in economics, he has no scientific training.
The Times obtained the documents from the hardworking folks over at the Government Accountability Project.
Posted by Robert Shull
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