Bush accused of distorting evidence on climate change
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
The Bush administration has been accused of routinely misleading the public over the threat of globalwarming and of orchestrating efforts to try to suppress scientific findings that highlight the reality of climate change.
The chairman of a Congressional committee investigating the administration’s actions said yesterday that government officials had sought repeatedly “to mislead the public by injecting doubt into the science of globalwarming. Democrat Henry Waxman also said the government was refusing to make public documents that would expose its behaviour.
Meanwhile, two pressure groups provided survey findings to the committee that suggested almost half of federal climate scientists who responded said they had experienced pressure to eliminate the words “climate change” or globalwarming from their writings. One third said they had experienced officials at their agencies making public statements that misrepresented their findings.