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Matt Rourke/AP
Vice President Dick Cheney
Vice President Dick Cheney
Cheney Encouraged Deletions in Climate Change Testimony
July 10, 2008 11:32 AM
A former EPA official maintains that Vice President Dick Cheney’s office pushed for major deletions in congressional testimony about the health effects of climate change.
30-Second Summary
By diluting testimony about the public health consequences of climate change, Cheney’s office may have been trying to make it harder to regulate greenhouse gases, according to a former Environmental Protection Agency official.
Presently, the EPA is investigating whether carbon dioxide threatens human health. If the agency finds the answer is yes, the gas must be regulated under the Clean Air Act.
Six pages of congressional testimony on climate change and public health by the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were deleted in October 2007.
The White House said the deletions were made for accuracy reasons. Jason K. Burnett, the senior adviser on climate change to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, said Cheney’s office worked hard to remove the information, however.
His office also objected to Johnson’s January 2008 testimony that “greenhouse gas emissions harm the environment,” according to ABC News.
Scientists claim climate change could result in further air pollution and faster spread of diseases like malaria and dengue fever.
There is also talk that global warming could increase security concerns.
“We now know that this censorship was part of a master plan” to weaken the Supreme Court ruling about greenhouse gases, said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
Boxer said Burnett will testify before the committee in the future.
Presently, the EPA is investigating whether carbon dioxide threatens human health. If the agency finds the answer is yes, the gas must be regulated under the Clean Air Act.
Six pages of congressional testimony on climate change and public health by the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were deleted in October 2007.
The White House said the deletions were made for accuracy reasons. Jason K. Burnett, the senior adviser on climate change to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, said Cheney’s office worked hard to remove the information, however.
His office also objected to Johnson’s January 2008 testimony that “greenhouse gas emissions harm the environment,” according to ABC News.
Scientists claim climate change could result in further air pollution and faster spread of diseases like malaria and dengue fever.
There is also talk that global warming could increase security concerns.
“We now know that this censorship was part of a master plan” to weaken the Supreme Court ruling about greenhouse gases, said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
Boxer said Burnett will testify before the committee in the future.
Headline Links: Stifling climate change information?
In a three-page letter to Sen. Boxer, former EPA official Jason K. Burnett said, “The Council on Environmental Quality and the office of the vice president were seeking deletions to the CDC testimony (concerning) … any discussions of the human health consequences of climate change.” Burnett resigned his position with the EPA in June 2008 “because of disagreements over the agency’s response to climate change,” according to ABC News.
Source: ABC News
Boxer held a news conference with Burnett to discuss the charges that Cheney’s office tried holding back information on the full effects of global warming. She said White House press secretary Dana Perino was “lying” by telling reporters there were scientific concerns about the testimony last fall. White House spokesman Tony Fratto supported Perino, however, and noted that a statement from presidential science adviser John Marburger had also raised questions about the CDC testimony.
Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution
Background: Effects of climate change; control measures
On April 9, a senior scientist for the CDC told Congress that “major human health problems” are anticipated from climate change, including increased air pollution and the more rapid spread of infectious diseases such as West Nile virus, malaria, dengue fever and Lyme disease.
Source: findingDulcinea
Later in April, President Bush unveiled a plan to cap greenhouse gas emissions by 2025; however, developing nations and observers questioned his motives.
Source: findingDulcinea
Opinion & Analysis: Fear of global warming
In The Dominion Post, psychotherapist Jenny Packard discusses a University of Melbourne study linking global warming to depression, arguing that the media has cultivated an “insidious background of fear” about global warming. Australian researcher Grant Blashki concurs: “People with depression and anxiety have a low threshold to taking on the negative information about climate change, which feeds into a hopelessness about the future.”
Source: The Dominion Post
Related Topics: Global warming and security concerns
The opening of the Northwest Passage could lead to international disputes over shipping routes. Global warming has prompted a variety of security concerns.
Source: findingDulcinea
Reference: Clean Air Act
The EPA provides technical and “plain English” explanations of the Clean Air Act, as well as a history of the law.
Source: Environmental Protection Agency
© 2009 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
