White House Moves To Reinstate Bush-Suppressed Climate Reports

The Bush administration spent eight years trying to suppress a legally-required series of reports on the likely impact of climate change on the US. The "National Assessment," as it was called, described significant potential climate impacts based on expert science and other information sources. Groups funded by the coal industry claimed the science was bad, and tried to un-publish the reports. Back issues of the WatchDog detail the suppression story.

Now the Obama White House is reinstating the National Assessment and giving it priority. Katharine Jacobs is being brought in to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to head up the effort — with new emphasis on adaptation as well as assessment.

• "White House Science Office reactivating U.S. National Assessment of Climate Change," Climate Science Watch, January 10, 2010, by Rick Piltz.