Cheney Office Censored Climate Change Testimony

Vice President Dick Cheney is being accused of censoring testimony on the health threats of Global Warming. Jason Burnett, former top adviser on climate change to EPA chief Stephen Johnson, made these and other accusations in a letter to California Senator and chair the Environment Committee Barbara Boxer.

In October, Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was prepared to testify before Boxer's committee that climate change "is likely to have a significant impact on health," warning of extreme heat and weather, water-borne diseases and food and water scarcity.

But Cheney's office and the Council on Environmental Quality effectively deleted six pages of Gerberding's testimony, Burnett said: "CEQ requested that I work with CDC to remove from the testimony any discussion of the human health consequences of climate change."

Burnett resigned from the Environmental Protection Agency last month in protest of a decision to block California’s emission limit.

Ironic that the CEQ is a division of the White House that coordinates federal environmental efforts in the United States and works closely with agencies and other White House offices in the development of environmental and energy policies and initiatives. Am I wrong in assuming that the CEQ is suppose to protect our great country in matters relating to the environment?

Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney is former CEO of Halliburton Company (1995 to 2000), a Fortune 500 company and market leader in the energy sector.

On April 24, 2007, Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio presented articles of impeachment against Cheney. The resolution has acquired twenty-four Democratic cosponsors since its introduction, six of whom are members of the House Judiciary Committee.

Sources: Democracy Now, The Mercury News and Wikipedia.

HARPER'S INDEX
Harper's Magazine
July 2008

Percentage of EPA scientists who say they have experienced political interference with their work: 60

Change since 2001 in the percentage of Americans who believe that humans are causing climate change: -4

Factor by which the average length of a heat wave in Western Europe has increased during the past century: 2