By H. Josef Hebert, Associated Press Writer | June 8, 2005
WASHINGTON --The White House said Wednesday that changes in government reports on global warming by a former oil industry lobbyist were part of a normal review and did not violate a pledge to rely on sound science. "The facts point out that our reports are based on the best scientific knowledge and they're based on the inputs of scientists," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. Documents provided to the Government Accountability Project, a nonprofit group that helps whistleblowers, showed that a White House official who once headed the oil industry's lobbying on climate change edited administration reports on the topic in 2002 and 2003. The official, Philip Cooney, is chief of staff of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Cooney, a lawyer without a background in science, worked earlier for the American Petroleum Institute where he headed its climate issues program. His changes in several federal reports tended to emphasize the uncertainty of climate science and the environmental impact of climate change, according to a summary of the documents provided by the advocacy group. Cooney's involvement in editing the reports were first disclosed Wednesday by the New York Times, based on documents from the group. The organization is representing a whistleblower, Rick Piltz, who resigned in March from the government office that coordinates federal climate change programs.
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See also:
Climate Ark (news compilation)
Climate Change Facts
Pentagon Report (executive summary)
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