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News & Analysis | REG•WATCH Blog | Press Room
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Details on OMB's Edits of CDC's Climate Change Testimony
Yesterday, Julie Gerberding, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), was supposed to testify in front of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee about the threat global warming poses to public health. Instead, Gerberding spoke in detail of preparedness and health tracking but addressed public health impacts only cursorily.
Gerberding didn't speak of the ways global warming may impact public health because the White House wouldn't let her, as the Associated Press first reported yesterday. While reviewing Gerberding's testimony, the White House Office of Management and Budget cut out seven pages, about half, of the testimony. The removed sections include information on extreme weather events and food and water-borne disease, among other things.
OMB routinely reviews the congressional testimony of executive branch officials. OMB has been reviewing testimony since President Nixon reorganized (and politicized) the office. Although OMB has no explicit legal authority to do so, review and minor edits are commonplace.
Edits to Gerberding's testimony are not minor. In fact, they are appallingly major. Of course, the White House is denying any wrongdoing. According to AP, Press Secretary Dana Perino made this statement: "It was not watered down in terms of its science. It wasn't watered down in terms of the concerns that climate change raises for public health."
That is, quite frankly, a lie. Fortunately, the nonprofit group Climate Science Watch has obtained a copy of the original testimony, so you can compare for yourself.
Climate Science Watch has posted the original draft and the final version submitted to the Senate committee. By comparing the two versions, you can find that with one long highlight and one stroke of the 'Delete" button, OMB removed pages 2-8 in their entirety.
Posted by Matt Madia
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