Standoff Over Climate Study Provokes National Uproar By Scientists

"A top House lawmaker’s confrontation with government researchers over a groundbreaking climate change study is provoking a national backlash from scientists, who say his campaign represents the most serious threat Congress has posed to scientific freedom.

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, has subpoenaed scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and demanded that they turn over internal e-mails related to their research. Their findings contradicted earlier work showing that global warming had paused, and Smith, a climate change skeptic, has accused them of altering global temperature data and rushing to publish their research in the June issue of the journal Science.

So far, NOAA officials have resisted Smith’s demands, and the showdown has escalated. ...

On Tuesday, seven scientific organizations representing hundreds of thousands of scientists sent an unsparing letter to Smith, warning that his efforts are “establishing a practice of inquests” that will have a chilling effect."

Lisa Rein reports for the Washington Post November 24, 2015.

SEE ALSO:

"NOAA Chief Tells Lawmaker: No One Will ‘Coerce the Scientists Who Work for Me’" (Washington Post)

"AAAS Leads Coalition to Protest Climate Science Inquiry" (AAAS Release)

"New Study Finds ‘No Substantive Evidence’ of a Global Warming ‘Pause’" (Washington Post)

"Top Science Committee Democrat Accuses GOP Lawmaker of New Low in Climate Feud" (Washington Post)

"NOAA Climate Feud: Pursuit of Scientific Truth Vs. Public Accountability" (Washington Post)

"Rep. Lamar Smith Continues His Harassment of Scientists" (Slate)

"NOAA Climate Science Probe: Cover-up or "Weapon of Mass Distraction"?" (ClimateWire)

"Lamar Smith Is Hot and Bothered About Climate Science" (US News & World Report)

"There Was No Global Warming 'Hiatus,' 40-Study Review Concludes" (InsideClimate News)

"Even as Congress Investigates the Global Warming ‘Pause,’ Actual Temperatures Are Surging" (Washington Post)

EJToday Headlines of November 24, 2015 (SEJ)