Update on EPA Saga

CEI’s Exposure of the EPA Cover-Up-the Saga Continues

On June 23d, the last day for public comment in EPA’s Endangerment Docket, CEI unveiled a series of amazing EPA emails which demonstrated that the agency had squelched an internal report critical of its position on global warming. We sent out our first news release on this the next morning.  A day later, Rep. Joe Barton and other Republicans held a press conference on the issue, and Reps. Sensenbrenner and Issa issued statements decrying the cover-up.  CEI also released a draft version of the concealed report.   The next day, as the House debated the Waxman-Markey bill, Rep. Barton brought the issue up during floor debate as well.  At EPA, meanwhile, senior analyst Dr. Alan Carlin was given permission to post the final version of his report on his own website-EPA still refused to post it on the agency website.

CEI subsequently filed the final report with EPA, demanding that the agency reopen the comment period to allow the public to respond to both the report and to EPA’s atrocious behavior.  We have yet to hear back from the agency.  The U.S. Chamber of Commerce supported our request, accusing the agency of running a “shell game” on the endangerment issue.

On the Senate side, Senators Inhofe, Barrasso and Thune weighed in with questions for EPA and requests for an IG investigation.  The issue was raised yet again during the Senate EPW July 7 hearing, at which Administrator Jackson lamely claimed that Dr. Carlin’s views had been circulated within the agency.  She did not explain why his report had been buried.

In terms of press coverage, there’ve been a growing number of articles, starting with a DowJones Newswire report and extending to other web and print media as well.  Two excellent pieces are a CBSNews Political Hotsheet article and a Wall St. Journal column by Kim Strassel.

In the past week there have been other major stories as well: syndicated columns by Debra Saunders (SF Chronicle) and Walter Williams; a superb UK Telegraph piece which put the suppressed study in an international context (comparing it to the Australian Parliament’s new doubts on global warming); a NYTimes/Greenwire online feature on Sen. Barrasso, describing his raising of this issue.

In Congress, EPA chief Lisa Jackson was confronted with the issue on July 7 at a Senate hearing.  Most recently, on July 16, the full Republican membership of a House investigations subcommittee formally demanded a full response on the matter from EPA.