Wed, Oct 24 2007
CHIDED? WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO SPANK THEM?
This is affecting our health, the health of everyone in the world, I'm outraged. BushCo has decided for you that certain information that could kill you is not anything you need to know about. Whew! Thank god they're looking out for me!
"The public health effects of climate change remain largely unaddressed. CDC considers climate change a serious public health concern," the draft says. The phrase was not in the testimony given the committee or in her other remarks at the hearing.
Gerberding referred briefly to a chart, displayed at the hearing, that listed the potential health effect, but provided little elaboration. Examples included excessive heat, respiratory problems, more air pollution and possible spread of animal-transmitted and waterborne diseases.
The original text devoted six (of 12) pages — all deleted — to these items."
White House chided for editing testimony
WASHINGTON, Associated Press - Two chairmen of key committees in the House and Senate on Wednesday criticized the White House for editing testimony from a government expert about the health impacts of global warming and demanded documents involving the testimony he provided to Congress.
"I am deeply concerned that important scientific and health information was removed from the ... testimony at the last minute," Sen. Barbara Boxer, chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, wrote President Bush.
Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee, demanded an explanation from the White House's chief science adviser, John Marburger, about the handing of the testimony earlier this week by Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She appeared Tuesday before Boxer's committee, which is crafting global warming legislation.
"We expect our government researchers and scientists to provide both Congress and the public the full results of their taxpayer-supported work without the filter that those of opposing views might like to impose," Gordon wrote Marburger.
The White House denied that the testimony by Gerberding was "watered down" and noted that she has said she does not believe she was censored.
When a draft of Gerberding's testimony went to the White House for review, two sections — "Climate Change is a Public Health Concern" and "Climate Change Vulnerability" — and a number of other phrases were removed, cutting the 12-page document in half.
A copy of the draft given to the White House was obtained by The Associated Press.
Earlier, a CDC official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the review process, told the AP that the original draft "was eviscerated" by "heavy-handed" changes in Washington.
Boxer asked that the White House provide her committee, by next week, copies of all drafts of Gerberding's testimony and any records of comments made on the draft testimony. "The public has a right to know all of the facts about global warming and the threat it poses to their families and communities," Boxer wrote.
Gordon and Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., chairman of the House Science subcommittee on investigations and oversight, made a similar request.
White House press secretary Dana Perino said Gerberding's testimony went through an interagency review "and a number of agencies had some concerns."
She said some reviewers did not believe the draft matched the science as presented in a report on global warming and public health effects by a U.N. panel that has assessed climate change for decades.
The CDC testimony "was not watered down in terms of its science (or) ... in terms of the concerns that climate change raises for public health," Perino said.
Gerberding played down the changes to her prepared text and said she was comfortable with her presentation Tuesday to the Senate committee.
"I was absolutely happy with my testimony in Congress. We finally had a chance to go and say what we thought was important," she said at a luncheon appearance in Atlanta.
"I don't let people put words in my mouth, and I stand for science," said Gerberding. She said she was free to depart from the six pages of prepared testimony given the committee and did so.
But the original draft, reviewed by the AP, contained much greater detail on the potential disease and other health effects of climate change than was in either Gerberding's prepared remarks or in her other comments during the hearing.
"The public health effects of climate change remain largely unaddressed. CDC considers climate change a serious public health concern," the draft says. The phrase was not in the testimony given the committee or in her other remarks at the hearing.
Gerberding referred briefly to a chart, displayed at the hearing, that listed the potential health effect, but provided little elaboration. Examples included excessive heat, respiratory problems, more air pollution and possible spread of animal-transmitted and waterborne diseases.
The original text devoted six pages — all deleted — to these items.
Claims by the White House that some sections were removed because they did not — as Perino said — "comport with the science" in the U.N. panel's report were challenged by Boxer's staff. They said an analysis showed some of the deleted references were similar to concerns raised in the U.N. panel's report.
Gordon in his letter also said that the IPCC report "appears to support the deleted sections of Dr. Gerberding's testimony."
The CDC is the premier public health and disease tracking and response agency in the federal government. It is part of the Health and Human Services Department.
The Bush administration has tried to defend itself for months from accusations it has put political pressure on scientists to emphasize the uncertainties of global warming.
A House committee heard testimony this year from climate scientists who complained that the administration often had sought to manage or influence their statements and public appearances.
The White House has said it has only sought to provide a balanced view of the climate issue.Wed, Oct 24 2007
WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW WON'T HURT THEM
White House cut warming impact testimony
WASHINGTON, Associated Press - The White House severely edited congressional testimony given Tuesday by the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the impact of climate change on health, removing specific scientific references to potential health risks, according to two sources familiar with the documents.
Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Atlanta-based CDC, the government's premier disease monitoring agency, told a Senate hearing that climate change "is anticipated to have a broad range of impacts on the health of Americans."
But her prepared testimony was devoted entirely to the CDC's preparation, with few details on what effects climate change could have on the spread of disease. Only during questioning did she describe some specific diseases that likely would be affected, again without elaboration.
Her testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee had much less information on health risks than a much longer draft version Gerberding submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review in advance of her appearance.
"It was eviscerated," said a CDC official, familiar with both versions, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the review process.
The official said that while it is customary for testimony to be changed in a White House review, these changes were particularly "heavy-handed," with the document cut from its original 14 pages to four. It was six pages as presented to the Senate committee.
The OMB had no comment on Gerberding's testimony.
"We generally don't speculate and comment on anything until it is the final product," said OMB spokesman Sean Kevelighan. He added that OMB reviews take into consideration "whether they ... line up well with the national priorities of the administration."
The CDC is part of the Department of Health and Human Services and its congressional testimony, as is normal with all agencies, is routinely reviewed by OMB.
But Gerberding, who could not be reached late Tuesday for comment, was said to have been surprised by the extensive changes. Copies of the original testimony already had been sent to a number of associated health groups representing states, county and city health agencies that the CDC routinely coordinates with, a CDC official said.
CDC spokesman Tom Skinner sought to play down the White House changes. He called Gerberding's appearance before the Senate panel "very productive" and said she addressed the issues she wanted during her remarks and when questioned by the senators.
"What needed to be said as far we're concerned was said," said Skinner in a telephone interview from Atlanta. "She certainly communicated with the committee everything she felt was critical to help them appreciate and understand all the issues surrounding climate change and its potential impact on public health."
The deletions directed by the White House included details on how many people might be adversely affected because of increased warming and the scientific basis for some of the CDC's analysis on what kinds of diseases might be spread in a warmer climate and rising sea levels, according to one official who has seen the original version.
Gerberding seems to have tried to address some of those issues during questioning from senators.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., the committee's chairman, produced a CDC chart listing the broad range of health problems that could emerge from a significant temperature increase and sea level rise
They include fatalities from heat stress and heart failure, increased injuries and deaths from severe weather such as hurricanes; more respiratory problems from drought-driven air pollution; an increase in waterborne diseases including cholera, and increases vector-borne diseases including malaria and hantavirus; and mental health problems such as depression and post-traumatic stress.
"These are the potential things you can expect," replied Gerberding when asked about the items listed. "... In some of these areas its not a question of if, it's a question of who, what, how and when."
Peter Rafle, a spokesman for Boxer, said the senator knew nothing about changes that might have been made to Gerberding's testimony by the White House.All news articles and images provided under the Fair Use Notice.