On December 12 the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee approved a majority report that concludes that the Bush Administration politically interfered with climate change science communication and misled policymakers and the public about the dangers of global warming. The Committee was divided. The Republican minority put forward a “Preliminary Minority Views” report that draws conclusions based on unquestioningly accepting at face value misleading statements by Phil Cooney and other current and former administration officials.
The report—Political Interference with Climate Change Science Under the Bush Administration—is posted on the committee’s web site. It is the result of a 16-month investigation initiated in 2006 by then-chairman Tom Davis (R-VA) and then-ranking member Henry Waxman (D-CA).
The committee also has posted three sets of supporting documents:
Supporting Documents, Part 1 (148 pages)
Supporting Documents, Part 2 (26 pages)
Supporting Documents, Part 3 (144 pages)
The committee minority leadership challenged the majority report:
Ranking Member Tom Davis (R-VA) Statement on CEQ Report
Preliminary Minority Views
We believe there are fundamental problems of inaccuracy and misinterpretation in the Minority Views report. We believe the Minority Views errs greatly in taking misleading statements by administration officials at face value and thereby getting key points wrong. We will be posting additional items that address these issues.