Welch grills former White House staffer on changes to climate reports
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By Daniel Barlow Vermont Press Bureau - Published: March 20, 2007
U.S. Rep. Peter Welch took on a former Bush administration official Monday, saying he altered scientific reports to downplay the threat of global warming without citing evidence to back up the changes.
During a committee hearing in Washington, Vermont's freshman Democrat grilled Phillip Cooney, the former chief of staff for the White House's Council on Environmental Quality, on changes he authorized to reports that raised doubts about climate change.
Welch cited 181 edits in papers and reports made by Cooney that would inject doubt into the science community's contention that climate change is caused by human activity. Until recently, the White House has denied that humankind caused global warming.
"You made changes," Welch said Monday morning during a hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. "You changed the writings of scientists. Where did you find the support for the change?"
Welch's questioning, at times, left Cooney speechless and fumbling for answers as he sat behind a stack of papers. Cooney, who resigned following the controversy two years ago and now works for Exxon-Mobil, denied he was editing the documents.
He explained that he was making suggestions as part of an internal administration review process. Cooney said his information came from sources such as the National Academy of Sciences, although he could not name specifics.
"I offered my comments in good-faith reliance on what I understood to be authoritative and current use of the state of scientific knowledge," Cooney said.
Monday's hearing was the second part of the committee's investigation into the Bush administration's altering of internal scientific reports to reflect its global warming policy, which until recently denied that humans were responsible for climate change.
Much of the hearing centered on testimony by Dr. James Hansen, a top NASA official on global warming whose writings and public statements allegedly have been altered or censored by the Bush administration.
Hansen said review of his published work seems to have become routine in the government to ensure that his facts don't conflict with policy. This has contributed to the public perception regarding global warming, he said.
"The impact is to confuse the public about the reality of global warming and about whether that warming can be reliably attributed to human-made greenhouse gases," Hansen said.
Earlier in the hearing, Welch highlighted what he called the Bush administration's oil-centric energy policy, including its unsuccessful attempt to authorize drilling in protected arctic lands and its tax incentives for oil companies during a time when profits were at all-time highs.
Cooney again seemed taken aback.
"Congressman, I say that later in my years in the administration we opposed tax incentives …," he responded.
"Let's get real here, Mr. Cooney," remarked Welch.
Welch said Monday that if the work of climate scientists were not changed, the evidence could have shifted the tide of public sentiment on the issue sooner. He compared it to the efforts of tobacco companies in the past to raise doubt on the link between smoking and lung cancer.
"This was intended to sow confusion regarding the link between climate change and human activity," Welch said.
Hours after the committee hearing ended, Welch said he was renewing his call for his colleagues to make their political offices carbon neutral, as he did last month.
Welch announced that he has five co-sponsors for a bill that allow members of Congress to use federal funds allocated for operating their Washington, D.C., offices toward purchasing "carbon credits" to balance their own energy use.
Under such carbon neutral initiatives, funds are given toward renewable energy programs or other environmental projects that offset the energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Welch has spent his own money to make his office carbon neutral.
"Congress needs to start spending money on solving pollution instead of causing pollution," he said.
Contact Daniel Barlow at Daniel.barlow@rutlandherald.com.
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