[Vision2020] 11-2-17 Sen. Franken Renews Call on Trump Administration To Maintain Scientific Integrity in National Climate Update

[Ted Moffett]

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https://www.franken.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=3799Sen. Franken Renews
Call on Trump Administration To Maintain Scientific Integrity in National
Climate Assessment Update
Thursday, November 2, 2017

This week, U.S. Senator Al Franken renewed his call for the Trump
Administration to reassure Americans that forthcoming reports on climate
change are fair, accurate, and use the latest climate science.



In a letter this week to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Sen. Franken and
eight of his Senate colleagues pressed for assurances that the scientific
integrity of the soon-to-be-released “Fourth National Climate Assessment”
is not compromised, and that the Administration will give climate change
the attention it deserves.



In a letter sent earlier this year
<https://www.franken.senate.gov/files/letter/170718NationalClimateAssessment.pdf>,
Sen. Franken and his colleagues pressed the Commerce Department for more
information on the process used to prepare and review both the Climate
Science Special Report and the National Climate Assessment, and asked for
clarification about what safeguards are in place to ensure that the report
and assessment give fair and accurate accounts of the latest climate
science without political interference.

While the senators are still awaiting a reply to this original request, in
the meantime the public release of the Climate Science Special Report is
expected in the coming days. The most recent draft obtained by NPR provides
more confirmation that human activities are contributing to the changing of
our climate.

*“Unless serious action is taken to rapidly reduce emissions, the United
States will continue to warm several degrees over this century, with
damages to infrastructure, ecosystems, and human health,”* wrote Sen.
Franken and his colleagues in a follow-up letter to Commerce Secretary
Wilbur Ross this week. *“Once it is released, we would like to know how the
Trump Administration plans to address the report's findings.”*


You can read a copy of this week’s letter here
<https://www.franken.senate.gov/files/letter/171101NationalClimateAssessmentLetter.pdf>
or
below.



The Hon. Wilbur L. Ross, Jr.

U.S. Department of Commerce

1401 Constitution Ave., NW
<https://maps.google.com/?q=1401+Constitution+Ave.,+NW%0D+Washington,+D.C.+20230&entry=gmail&source=g>

Washington, D.C. 20230
<https://maps.google.com/?q=1401+Constitution+Ave.,+NW%0D+Washington,+D.C.+20230&entry=gmail&source=g>

Dear Secretary Ross:

On July 18 , we wrote to you to request an update on the Fourth National
Climate Assessment.

In that letter, we asked for information on the process to be used for
preparing and reviewing

both the Climate Science Special Report and the final National Climate
Assessment. We also

asked for details on what safeguards are in place to ensure that the
National Climate Assessment

and the Climate Science Special Report give fair and accurate summations of
the latest climate

science without political interference.

We are still awaiting your reply. In the meantime, the public release of
the Climate Science

Special Report is expected in the coming days . The most recent draft that
was obtained by the

New York Times in August incorporated input from independent expert
reviewers at the National

Academy of Sciences. This draft report provides yet more confirmation that
human activities are

dramatically changing our climate. Unless serious action is taken to
rapidly reduce emissions, the

United States will continue to warm several degrees over this century, with
damages to

infrastructure, ecosystems, and human health.

We understand that the Climate Science Special Report has cleared the
federal interagency

review process led by the Subcommittee on Global Change Research of the
National Science and

Technology Council and is in the final production stages. Once it is
released, we would like to

know how the Trump Administration plans to address the report's findings.
The Global Change

Research Act of 1990 requires that this report be presented to the
President and Congress every

four years. What are agency plans for briefing President Trump and senior
administration

officials about the findings in this report?

In addition. Volume 2 of the National Climate Assessment should be sent out
for its first review

very shortly. We strongly urge you to avoid any political interference and
maintain the scientific

integrity of the full National Climate Assessment documents. Thank you for
your consideration

of this request.

Sincerely,
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