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| | Just one more lie from the Bush administration | | | Wednesday, June 4, 2008 (9:26 AM)
(I'm feeling aggravated) | | Climate Findings Were Distorted, Probe Finds
Appointees in NASA Press Office Blamed
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 3, 2008; Page A02
An investigation by the NASA inspector general found that political appointees in the space agency's public affairs office worked to control and distort public accounts of its researchers' findings about climate change for at least two years, the inspector general's office said yesterday.
The probe came at the request of 14 senators after The Washington Post and other news outlets reported in 2006 that Bush administration officials had monitored and impeded communications between NASA climate scientists and reporters.
James E. Hansen, who directs NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies and has campaigned publicly for more stringent limits on greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming, told The Post and the New York Times in September 2006 that he had been censored by NASA press officers, and several other agency climate scientists reported similar experiences. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are two of the government's lead agencies on climate change issues.
From the fall of 2004 through 2006, the report said, NASA's public affairs office "managed the topic of climate change in a manner that reduced, marginalized, or mischaracterized climate change science made available to the general public." It noted elsewhere that "news releases in the areas of climate change suffered from inaccuracy, factual insufficiency, and scientific dilution."
Officials of the Office of Public Affairs told investigators that they regulated communication by NASA scientists for technical rather than political reasons, but the report found "by a preponderance of the evidence, that the claims of inappropriate political interference made by the climate change scientists and career public affairs officers were more persuasive than the arguments of the senior public affairs officials that their actions were due to the volume and poor quality of the draft news releases."
The political interference did not extend to the research itself or its dissemination through scientific journals and conferences, the investigators said. "We found no evidence indicating NASA blocked or interfered with the actual research activities of its climate scientists," the report said, but as a result of the actions of the political appointees, "trust was lost, at least temporarily, between the agency and some of its key employees and perhaps the public it serves."
Kristin Scuderi, a spokeswoman for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said in an e-mail that director John H. Marburger III "would not comment until he's reviewed the report, and he has not yet done so yet. Therefore, OSTP has no comment at this time."
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), one of the senators who pressed for the investigation, said in a statement that the report showed that citizens had been denied access to critical scientific information that should inform public policy.
"Global warming is the most serious environmental threat we face -- but this report is more evidence that the Bush Administration's appointees have put political ideology ahead of science," Lautenberg said. "Our government's response to global warming must be based on science, and the Bush Administration's manipulation of that information violates the public trust."
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| Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at 10:53 AM | | We just received this bulletin: Hello Everyone! In an effort to improve our studio internet signal, we will be canceling all shows for this week. We have been having quality problems with our in-studio signal for several weeks now, and we are attempting to remedy this once and for all by installing an extra DSL line. Please be patient with this as we are working diligently to improve your show for our sake as well as yours. Please re-schedule any guests, and postpone any plans that you had for this weeks more...broadcast, for next week.
If you have any questions, I would be glad to answer them via email or phone - 310 492 2200 x2547. In the
mean time, I encourage everyone to broadcast a live web-vlog during your normally scheduled time
slot to touch base with fans and let them know that your show will be back on at it's normal scheduled
time, next week.
Thank you for your patience.
Brian Ridge
Content Production Department
LiveUniverse, Inc.
310.492.2200 x2547 phone
bridge@liveuniverse.com
We will be having a question & answer forum during our regular show time, Thursday, 7/24/08 at 6:00 PM Pacific. Hope you can join us. Bring your hardest paranormal questions - make Michael work hard!! less | |
| Wednesday, July 2, 2008 at 11:29 PM | | Join us every Thursday evening at 6:00 PM Pacific for "Mediumship via the Internet!" Free live readings and portraits right here on our channel. Subscribe to our channel and come watch with your webcam on to participate. | |
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