statism watch

The Environmental Protection Agency may have suppressed an internal report that was skeptical of claims about global warming, including whether carbon dioxide must be strictly regulated by the federal government, according to a series of newly disclosed e-mail messages.

Less than two weeks before the agency formally submitted its pro-regulation recommendation to the White House, an EPA center director quashed a 98-page report that warned against making hasty “decisions based on a scientific hypothesis that does not appear to explain most of the available data.”

The EPA official, Al McGartland, said in an e-mail message (PDF) to a staff researcher on March 17: “The administrator and the administration has decided to move forward…and your comments do not help the legal or policy case for this decision.”

The e-mail correspondence raises questions about political interference in what was supposed to be an independent review process inside a federal agency–and echoes criticisms of the EPA under the Bush administration, which was accused of suppressing a pro-climate change document.

Alan Carlin, the primary author of the 98-page EPA report, said in a telephone interview on Friday that his boss, McGartland, was being pressured himself. “It was his view that he either lost his job or he got me working on something else,” Carlin said. “That was obviously coming from higher levels.”

E-mail messages released this week show that Carlin was ordered not to “have any direct communication” with anyone outside his small group at EPA on the topic of climate change, and was informed that his report would not be shared with the agency group working on the topic.

“I was told for probably the first time in I don’t know how many years exactly what I was to work on,” said Carlin, a 38-year veteran of the EPA. “And it was not to work on climate change.” One e-mail orders him to update a grants database instead.

For its part, the EPA sent an e-mailed statement saying: “Claims that this individual’s opinions were not considered or studied are entirely false. This Administration and this EPA Administrator are fully committed to openness, transparency, and science-based decision making. These principles were reflected throughout the development of the proposed endangerment finding, a process in which a broad array of voices were heard and an inter-agency review was conducted.” (The endangerment finding is the EPA’s decision that carbon dioxide endangers the public health and welfare.)

Carlin has an undergraduate degree in physics from CalTech and a PhD in economics from MIT. His Web site lists papers about the environment and public policy dating back to 1964, spanning topics from pollution control to environmentally-responsible energy pricing.

After reviewing the scientific literature that the EPA is relying on, Carlin said, he concluded that it was at least three years out of date and did not reflect the latest research. “My personal view is that there is not currently any reason to regulate (carbon dioxide),” he said. “There may be in the future. But global temperatures are roughly where they were in the mid-20th century. They’re not going up, and if anything they’re going down.”

Carlin’s report listed a number of recent developments he said the EPA did not consider, including that global temperatures have declined for 11 years; that new research predicts Atlantic hurricanes will be unaffected; that there’s “little evidence” that Greenland is shedding ice at expected levels; and that solar radiation has the largest single effect on the earth’s temperature.

If there is a need for the government to lower planetary temperatures, Carlin believes, other mechanisms would be cheaper and more effective than regulation of carbon dioxide. One paper he wrote says managing sea level rise or reducing solar radiation reaching the earth would be more cost-effective alternatives.

The EPA’s possible suppression of Carlin’s report, which lists the EPA’s John Davidson as a co-author, could endanger any carbon dioxide regulations if they are eventually challenged in court.

“The big question is: there is this general rule that when an agency puts something out for public evidence and comment, it’s supposed to have the evidence supporting it and the evidence the other way,” said Sam Kazman, general counsel of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C., that has been skeptical of new laws or regulations relating to global warming.

Kazman’s group obtained the documents–both CEI and Carlin say he was not the source–and released the e-mails on Tuesday and the report on Friday. As a result of the disclosure, CEI has asked the EPA to reopen the comment period on the greenhouse gas regulatory proceeding, which ended on Tuesday.

The EPA also said in its statement: “The individual in question is not a scientist and was not part of the working group dealing with this issue. Nevertheless, the document he submitted was reviewed by his peers and agency scientists, and information from that report was submitted by his manager to those responsible for developing the proposed endangerment finding. In fact, some ideas from that document are included and addressed in the endangerment finding.”

That appears to conflict with an e-mail from McGartland in March, who said to Carlin: “I decided not to forward your comments… I can see only one impact of your comments given where we are in the process, and that would be a very negative impact on our office.” He also wrote to Carlin: “Please do not have any direct communication with anyone outside of (our group) on endangerment. There should be no meetings, e-mails, written statements, phone calls, etc.”

One reason why the process might have been highly charged politically is the unusual speed of the regulatory process. Lisa Jackson, the new EPA administrator, had said that she wanted her agency to reach a decision about regulating carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act by April 2–the second anniversary of a related U.S. Supreme Court decision.

“All this goes back to a decision at a higher level that this was very urgent to get out, if possible, yesterday,” Carlin said. “In the case of an ordinary regulation, these things normally take a year or two. In this case, it was a few weeks to get it out for public comment.” (Carlin said that he and other EPA staff members who were asked to respond to a draft only had four and a half days to do so.)

In the last few days, Republicans have begun to raise questions about the report and e-mail messages, but it was insufficient to derail the so-called cap and trade bill from being approved by the U.S. House of Representatives.

Rep. Joe Barton, the senior Republican on the Energy and Commerce committee, invoked Carlin’s report in a floor speech during the debate on Friday. “The science is not there to back it up,” Barton said. “An EPA report that has been suppressed…raises grave doubts about the endangerment finding. If you don’t have an endangerment finding, you don’t need this bill. We don’t need this bill. And for some reason, the EPA saw fit not to include that in its decision.”

“I’m sure it was very inconvenient for the EPA to consider a study that contradicted the findings it wanted to reach,” Rep. James Sensenbrenner, the senior Republican on the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, said in a statement. “But the EPA is supposed to reach its findings based on evidence, not on political goals. The repression of this important study casts doubts on the EPA’s finding, and frankly, on other analysis the EPA has conducted on climate issues.”

The revelations could prove embarrassing to Jackson, the EPA administrator, who said in January: “I will ensure the EPA’s efforts to address the environmental crises of today are rooted in three fundamental values: science-based policies and programs, adherence to the rule of law, and overwhelming transparency.” Similarly, President Barack Obama claimed that “the days of science taking a back seat to ideology are over… To undermine scientific integrity is to undermine our democracy. It is contrary to our way of life.”

“All this talk from the president and (EPA administrator) Lisa Jackson about integrity, transparency, and increased EPA protection for whistleblowers–you’ve got a bouquet of ironies here,” said Kazman, the CEI attorney.

Source | See also under Environment: Polar bear expert barred from conference by global warming advocates | US Congress Passes the 1,200-page Climate Bill that it was not allowed to read | Climate Cops To Fine “Wasteful” Homeowners & Businesses | Chemical ban targets toys, rubber duckies | Rutgers Professor Warns Geoengineering Could “Create Disasters,” Global Famine | Obama targets US public with call for climate action | Black ooze at old Cold War station frightens Labrador town | Canada, U.S. will renegotiate Great Lakes water treaty | US cities may have to be bulldozed in order to survive | Prentice tables bill to expand NWT park under UNESCO | Obama to stake reputation on fast-tracked climate bill | Ontario unveils cap-and-trade legislation | Genetically modified monkeys pass traits to offspring | Bee population feels sting of cold, parasites as N.B. population drops | Toronto council approves stringent green-roof rules | Economic stabilization may rely on carbon economy, economist says | Google PowerMeter to track home energy usage in Toronto test drive | Meet – and eat – the modified Atlantic salmon | ‘Smart meters’ set to boost prices, track your power consumption by time of day in Toronto | Bee expert takes issue with dated UN data minimizing honeybee deaths | Researchers working on swine flu ‘vaccine corn’ | Global warming alarmists out in cold | Revealed: Antarctic ice growing, not shrinking | NRTEE Carbon Market Panel is ‘Round Table on Socialist Planning’ | Toronto: New bin regime spawns new rules, confusion for avid recyclers | Climate panel presses for federal cap-and-trade system | David Attenborough becomes patron for population reduction | Carbon tax resurfaces in Liberal policy proposal | Nature, not just man, to blame for global warming: scientists | Obama, Gore, tied to Chicago carbon exchange | U.N. ‘Climate Change’ Plan Would Likely Shift Trillions to Form New World Economy | UK population must fall to 30m: Optimum Population Trust | U.N. Environment Head Wants Global Warming Tax | Changes to law could affect navigation of Canadian waters, critics say | Scientists warn global warming accelerating | Terence Corcoran: Ontario’s green energy plan sneaks in feed-in taxes | Time to emulate Roosevelt’s New Deal and create green jobs | Gordon Brown’s amazing patent cure-all globalization deal | Top Japanese Scientists: Warming Is Not Caused By Human Activity | Doomsday seed vault’s stores are growing | Genetically Modified Seeds: Monsanto is Putting Normal Seeds Out of Reach | Google to enter market for energy use tracking | EU calls for global carbon trading system to fight climate change | Canadian, U.S. energy policies to be inextricably linked: Prentice | As in Canada, gender-bending chemicals in UK rivers grow more potent | UK Slips New Garbage Bin Taxes into Climate Bill | Obama to visit Canada, Tories to propose ‘integrated carbon market’ | Researchers unlock secrets of 1918 flu pandemic | Detroit granted water extraction exemption due to ‘historical precedent’ | Chemicals feminizing males, study suggests | Major report to reveal male gender under threat from pollutants | GM Crops Climb to Nearly One-Tenth of Global Crop Production | Toronto council approves plastic bag charge, bottle ban | UN Climate Change Conference open with call for ‘co-operation’ | Genetically engineered meal close to your table | IPCC caught with false figures, doubt cast on accuracy of global temperature record | Harper ready to harmonize with U.S. on climate change | CBC broadcasts “The Disappearing Male”, an expose of hormone-disrupting plastics | Harper Govt. to push North American carbon market plan with Obama | The GM genocide: Thousands of Indian farmers are committing suicide after using genetically modified crops | Europe’s secret plan to boost GM crop production | UN announces green ‘New Deal’ plan to rescue world economies | UN: financial crisis must not stop climate change action | Mobile phones to track carbon footprint using GPS | Bayer on defensive in bee deaths | Shun meat, says UN climate chief | Bilderberg-connected Desmarais dynasty thinktank supports exporting Canada’s water | Sensitive government document found on rainy Ottawa street | GM crops could lead to ‘disaster’: Prince Charles | Climate hysterics v heretics in an age of unreason | Pesticides, pollutants threaten Canadian tap water, researchers suggest | 40,000 sq km to be signed over to UNESCO | Population control thinktank to Britons: Have less children | Water pact will deplete Great Lakes, expert fears | Small Farmers Pushed to Plant GM Seed | Ontario joins continental WCI cap-and-trade scheme | American thinktanks sowed seeds of food crisis | Canada expanding parkland at ‘extraordinary’ pace | China wages war on Olympic weather | Ontario places vast boreal area under protection, 22% of province off limits to development | Get set – the future starts now | Canada’s made in America energy policy | Manitoba’s boreal forest touted for UNESCO status | Sludge biosolids decried as ‘toxic stew’, used as fertilizer | Sarkozy urges climate change action on first day as EU president | B.C. carbon tax kicks in on Canada Day | Today’s suburbs, tomorrow’s slums? | Home-grown veg ruined by toxic fertiliser | Agribusiness positions GM crops as panacea to predicted global food shortage | Oil, oil everywhere? Well, just maybe | Dion begins selling green plan | Lakes across Canada face being turned into mine dump sites | Road tolls, a bitter pill that works | They call it cap and trade, but it’s just another fuel tax | World has enough oil reserves, says BP boss | House of Commons adopts Layton’s Kyoto Plus bill | Monsanto Plans to Save World with its Biotech Crops | Quebec, Ontario sign historic climate pact | Every adult in Britain should be forced to carry ‘carbon ration cards’, say MPs | Beware thirsty Americans, Kennedy tells Canada | The tiny, useful particle that could also be a health problem | Dion begins selling carbon plan | Time has come to put ‘price on waste and pollution’: Dion | Man-made clouds to change the sky | Is it time for toll roads? | Bin Brother is watching you | Scientist who claimed GM crops could solve Third World hunger admits he got it wrong | CEOs call for ‘aggressive’ action on climate change | Vancouver to import road tolls from UK | UK proposes national road tolls to cut congestion | Technology Exists to Redirect Hurricanes, Naval Physicist Says | Weather War? | NASA Funds Sci-Fi Weather Control Technology | Motorists to pay London toll