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<H1><A
href="http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/30/congress.climate.ap/index.html"><FONT
size=3>http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/30/congress.climate.ap/index.html</FONT></A></H1>
<H1>Chairman: Bush officials misled public on global warming</H1>
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<H4><SPAN>Story Highlights</SPAN></H4>• Chairman said officials mislead by
"injecting doubt" into global warming science<BR>• House panel looking for
evidence of political pressure on government scientists<BR>• Advocacy groups
says half of scientists told to delete material from reports<BR>• Sens. McCain,
Obama to express views on global warming at hearing</DIV>
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<P><B>WASHINGTON</B> (AP) -- The Democratic chairman of a House panel examining
the government's response to climate change said Tuesday there is evidence that
senior Bush administration officials sought repeatedly "to mislead the public by
injecting doubt into the science of global warming."</P>
<P>Rep. Henry Waxman, D-California, said he and the top Republican on his
oversight committee, Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, have sought documents from the
administration on climate policy, but repeatedly been rebuffed.</P>
<P>"The committee isn't trying to obtain state secrets or documents that could
affect our immediate national security," said Waxman, opening the hearing. "We
are simply seeking answers to whether the White House's political staff is
inappropriately censoring impartial government scientists."</P>
<P>"We know that the White House possesses documents that contain evidence of an
attempt by senior administration officials to mislead the public by injecting
doubt into the science of global warming and minimize the potential danger,"
Waxman said.</P>
<P>Administration officials were not scheduled to testify before the House
Oversight and Government Reform Committee. In the past the White House has said
it has only sought to inject balance into reports on climate change. Present
Bush has acknowledged concerns about global warming, but strongly opposes
mandatory caps of greenhouse gas emissions, arguing that approach would be too
costly.</P>
<P>Waxman said his committee had not received documents it requested from the
White House and other agencies, and that a handful of papers received on the eve
of the hearing "add nothing to our inquiry."</P>
<P>Two private advocacy groups, meanwhile, presented to the panel a survey of
government climate scientists showing that many of them say they have been
subjected to political pressure aimed at downplaying the threat of global
warming.</P><A target=_blank name=1></A><A target=_blank name=rv2></A>
<H3>Survey: Scientists pressured to downplay threat</H3>
<P>The groups presented a survey that shows two in five of the 279 climate
scientists who responded to a questionnaire complained that some of their
scientific papers had been edited in a way that changed their meaning. Nearly
half of the 279 said in response to another question that at some point they had
been told to delete reference to "global warming" or "climate change" from a
report.</P>
<P>The questionnaire was sent by the Union of Concerned Scientists, a private
advocacy group. The report also was based on "firsthand experiences" described
in interviews with the Government Accountability Project, which helps government
whistleblowers, lawmakers were told.</P>
<P>At the same time, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, sought to gauge her
colleague's sentiment on climate change. She opened a meeting where senators
were to express their views on global warming in advance of a broader set of
hearings on the issue.</P>
<P>Among those scheduled to make comments were two presidential hopefuls --
Sens. John McCain, R-Arizona, and Barack Obama, D-Illinois. Both lawmakers favor
mandatory reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, something opposed by President
Bush, who argues such requirements would threaten economic growth. (<A
href="javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/politics/2007/01/23/todd.warming.politics.points.cnn','2007/02/06');"
target=_blank>Watch why the president has proposed his own global warming
initiative</A><A
href="javascript:cnnVideo('play','javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/politics/2007/01/23/todd.warming.politics.points.cnn','2007/02/06');','2007/01/30');"
target=_blank><IMG class=cnnvideoicon height=12 alt=Video hspace=0
src="http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/main/icon_video.gif" width=19
vspace=1 border=0></A>)</P><A target=_blank name=2></A><A target=_blank
name=rv1></A>
<H3>U.N. climate change report expected soon</H3>
<P>The intense interest about climate change comes as some 500 climate
scientists gather in Paris this week to put the final touches on a United
Nations report on how warming, as a result of a growing concentration of
heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere, is likely to affect sea levels. (<A
href="javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/world/2007/01/24/riminton.hk.climate.cnn','2007/02/07');"
target=_blank>Watch how global warming my be changing Asia' climate</A><A
href="javascript:cnnVideo('play','javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/world/2007/01/24/riminton.hk.climate.cnn','2007/02/07');','2007/01/30');"
target=_blank><IMG class=cnnvideoicon height=12 alt=Video hspace=0
src="http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/main/icon_video.gif" width=19
vspace=1 border=0></A>)</P>
<P>They agree sea levels will rise, but not on how much. Whatever the report
says when it comes out at week's end, it is likely to influence the climate
debate in Congress.</P>
<P>At the Waxman hearing, the two advocacy groups said their research -- based
on the questionnaires, interviews and documents obtained through the Freedom of
Information Act -- revealed "evidence of widespread interference in climate
science in federal agencies."</P>
<P>The groups report described largely anonymous claims by scientists that their
findings at times at been misrepresented, that they had been pressured to change
findings and had been restricted on what they were allowed to say publicly.</P>
<P>The survey involved scientists across the government from NASA and the
Environmental Protection Agency to the department's of Agriculture, Energy,
Commerce, Defense and Interior. In all the government employees more than 2,000
scientists who spend at least some of their time on climate issues, the report
said.</P>
<P class=cnnscattribution>Copyright 2007 The <A
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