Global Warming Censorship: NASA Report

Evidence continues to mount that much of the information provided by the US GOVERNMENT represents a concerted effort to censor, distort and minimize Climate Change data available to the US public, although accurate information has been available from the international media and other domestic sources.

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Since the US has 5% of the world's population and consumes 25% of the world's resources, the nation is the largest per capita producer of greenhouse gases, much of it wasted energy. No viable global reduction policy is possible without US participation.

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Grist provides the following:

Deep Space Excoriation

NASA internal investigation finds press-office climate distortion

An investigation by NASA's inspector general has found that the agency's press office repeatedly distorted climate-change research findings and limited its scientists' access to the media between 2004 and 2006. NASA scientist James Hansen first spoke out about the press-office distortion to major news outlets two years ago, leading the agency to eventually alter its press policy. Before the change, however, NASA's press office "managed the topic of climate change in a manner that reduced, marginalized, or mischaracterized climate change science made available to the general public," the IG's report said. The report also found that "news releases in the areas of climate change suffered from inaccuracy, factual insufficiency, and scientific dilution." In one instance, press office folks canceled a press conference on a mission monitoring ozone pollution and climate change because it was too close to the 2004 presidential election. The report also said that the climate-info tinkering appeared to be limited to the agency's press office and likely wasn't linked to the agency's top officials or the White House.

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Washington Post :

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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The Associated Press provides the pdf link:

Mark Bowen, who wrote a book on NASA and Hansen, faulted the report's finding that NASA administrator Michael Griffin and the White House weren't involved in manipulation.

"So many honest people inside NASA and out have demonstrated censorship has occurred," Bowen said.

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The New York Times:

“Our investigation,” the report said, “found that during the fall of 2004 through early 2006, the NASA Headquarters Office of Public Affairs managed the topic of climate change in a manner that reduced, marginalized or mischaracterized climate change science made available to the general public.”

The report said most evidence supported contentions that politics was “inextricably interwoven” into operations at the public affairs office in that period and that the pattern was inconsistent with the statutory responsibility to communicate findings widely, “especially on a topic that has worldwide scientific interest.”