In Memoriam: Rick Piltz, Climate Science Champion and Bush-Era Whistleblower

GAP mourns the passing of Rick Piltz, a friend, whistleblower and long-time champion of climate science. Before founding GAP’s Climate Science Watch, he blew the whistle on the Bush administration’s improper editing and censorship of science program reports on global warming intended for the public and Congress. The same New York Times reporter who covered the story in 2005 published another article yesterday chronicling Rick’s legacy.

Key Quote (New York Times): He worked largely under the radar in his many years in the government climate science bureaucracy, but became a passionate defender of climate science and campaigner for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions as a blogger and speaker after leaving government in 2005.

A healthy democracy needs more people like Piltz. This is just as true under a Democratic administration as it was in the Bush years.


Watching the Watchdog: Questions for USDA on Poultry Inspection

Fifteen lawmakers sent USDA a long list of questions regarding how the agency intends to implement its New Poultry Inspection System (NPIS). GAP’s Food Integrity Campaign offered a few more questions that USDA whistleblowers would have added to the list, including: “will eliminating contamination remain a priority even if accurate reporting impedes plant productivity?” and “how will workers effectively do their job if many can’t even breathe due to excess chemical exposure?”