White House, Dems Battle over Global Warming Policy DocsA House oversight hearing yesterday presented overwhelming evidence that the administration has been censoring government scientists’ work on global warming.
But there’s a piece missing for Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) to complete the puzzle, and the administration seems determined not to hand it over, possibly leading to a legal clash between the administration and the Democratic Congress.
According to a survey by the Government Accountability Project and Union of Concerned Scientists, hundreds of government scientists have experienced meddling by superiors in research involving global warming. During the hearing yesterday, one NASA scientist testified (pdf) how he was forced to alter the title of a press release from “Cool Antarctica may warm rapidly this century, study finds” to “Scientists predict Antarctic climate changes,” and how, in 2004, “NASA Headquarters insisted that a NASA press officer monitor all interviews either in person or on the phone.”
So what’s missing? The orders from the top that agency officials should keep a close watch on what government scientists were saying about global warming.
Waxman, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has been trying since last summer to get his hands on those documents from the administration’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). But, in a prolonged cat and mouse game, the CEQ has resisted.
And in a letter sent to Waxman Monday (pdf), CEQ objected to turning over the documents because they concerned “the process of Presidential decisionmaking,” and “include the candid exchange of views in deliberations within the Executive Office of the President (EOP) regarding the development, bases and articulation of policy.” In other words, they’re just what Waxman’s looking for.
But because “releasing such documents could harm the candor and quality of deliberatons within the EOP,” the CEQ isn’t turning them over. That sounds like a claim of executive privilege, but it’s not — at least not yet.
Waxman has set a new deadline, February 9, for the turnover of the documents. Will the administration throw down the gauntlet with this Congress over its “candid” internal discussions about global warming and claim executive privilege? Or will they finally give in and hand over the good stuff?
