Saturday, February 11, 2006
Global Warming Issue Still Politicized at NOAA
As efforts are being initiated to shed the political pressure upon the climate scientists at NASA, their colleagues at another agency are revealed to be similarly under the gun.
James E. Hansen, the NASA climate scientist who sparked an uproar last month by accusing the Bush administration of keeping scientific information from reaching the public, said Friday that officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are also muzzling researchers who study global warming.Hansen, speaking in a panel discussion about science and the environment before a packed audience at the New School university, said that while he hopes his own agency will soon adopt a more open policy, NOAA insists on having "a minder" monitor its scientists when they discuss their findings with journalists...
New School President Bob Kerrey, a former Democratic senator from Nebraska, said he invited Hansen to speak because he was "very concerned" about what he called the administration's efforts to steer the debate over global warming: "It's not only inappropriate; it stifles the very debate we're trying to have today, and that we need to have on this issue."
Religious fundamentalists can ignore inconvenient truths if they so desire, but they should not be given carte blanche to impose their narrow viewpoints upon the handling of scientific data.
