Bias and Misrepresentation

Montana Legislature. (2019, Feb. 7). House Bill 418. https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/BillPdf/HB0418.pdf

The bill included this language:
WHEREAS, the human contribution of less than 5% is far too little to cause the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's claimed climate change; and
WHEREAS, nature's contribution of more than 95% can be the only cause of the Intergovernmental Panel Climate Change's claimed climate change; and
WHEREAS, if all human carbon dioxide emissions could be stopped, the resulting reduction in atmospheric carbon dioxide would be less than 18 parts per million of the present 410 parts per million, and therefore would not be enough to change nature's relentless increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide...

The bill was not signed into law.


Birnbaum, E. (2018, Oct. 16). Pence after viewing Hurricane Michael damage: Causes of climate change "yet to be seen." The Hill. https://perma.cc/R2ZD-DT59

After seeing damage from Hurricane Michael in Georgia, Vice President Pence said climate change causes have "yet to be seen. The reality is it's some of the worst storms that have ever affected this area were 50 and 100 years ago."

A January, 2018 National Climate Center report refuted Pence's claim, stating that the majority of the most destructive hurricanes on record have occurred in the past 50 years. Warming waters are responsible for more violent storms, as demonstrated by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and Hurricane Florence in North and South Carolina.


Temperature changes during the last 50 years
NASA/Fisk, E.
(2020, Jan. 15).
Temperature changes during the last 50 years.
Wikipedia Climate Change.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change#/
media/File:Change_in_Average_Temperature.svg
public domain
Olsen, A. (2018, Sep. 4). The Capitol Babbler. https://perma.cc/9ANH-G68A

Oregon state senator Alan Olsen falsely claimed "Climate Change will continue to happen regardless of anything we do and that is a fact. I don't doubt, we as humans, have contributed many negative aspects to our environment and have caused a great deal of pollution during the last century but we have been making drastic improvements since the 1970's to increase our Air quality, Land Systems, Rivers and Waterways."

He continued: "The consensus on climatic changes related to global warming is the average temperature of the Earth has risen between 0.4 and 0.8 oC over the past 100 years, with 0.4 being the margin of error. Scientific Peer-reviewed Charts show contemporary warming of the 20th century 'does not stand out in the 2500-year perspective' and is 'of the same magnitude as the Roman Warm Period and the Medieval Climate Anomaly.'"


Kahn, B. (2018, Aug. 10). The fossil fuel propaganda machine is still playing the victim. Earther. https://perma.cc/DUR2-W7JL

Louisiana attorney general Jeff Landry opened the New Orleans America First Energy Conference by "continuing a new tradition of Republicans inadvertently making the case for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez by attempting to trash her."

Landry stated "What's concerning is her message has resonated. Right now, there are 750 candidates and politicians who have signed a no fossil fuel pledge... That's the face of climate change hoax believers." He failed to mention that the oil and gas industry, his biggest campaign donor, provided $270,666 for his 2012 run for Congress.


Bunch, J. (2018, Apr. 18). Senate bill seeks to stop Hickenlooper from following Paris climate accord. Colorado Politics. https://perma.cc/Z7J9-5DHZ

During the debate over Senate Bill 226, Republican Sen. Vicki Marble, Fort Collins, said solar flares and cats play a role, rather than emissions. She said the climate has been changing for millions of years, not just in the age of emissions from automobiles and industry.

Marble said "We're going to die sometime, and I'm more afraid of sun flares than I am vehicles. And, believe me, I suffer from allergies up the ying-yang, but it's not the emissions that are coming from the cars, because I live by a highway, it's from my dang cats."

"My cats cause more problems and more asthma for people than anything else. There are so many causes, and I just wanted to throw that in," Marble added.

"The scientists are the standard for many people's beliefs because so many things that have come out have been proven false. I refuse to be held captive and in fear because of what somebody else believes," she said.

The bill failed, allowing Gov. Hickenlooper to continue Colorado's efforts to follow the Paris climate accord.


"I'm not a believer in man-made global warming. It could be warming, and it's going to start to cool at some point. And you know, in the early, in the 1920s, people talked about global cooling...They thought the Earth was cooling.

Now, it's global warming.

But the problem we have, and if you look at our energy costs, and all of the things that we're doing to solve a problem that I don't think in any major fashion exists." - Donald Trump, 2015.

Source: Cillizza, C. (2017, Aug. 8). Donald Trump doesn't think much of climate change, in 20 quotes.
https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/08/politics/trump-global-warming/index.html
Exxon Mobil Corporation v. Eric Tradd Schneiderman, Attorney General of New York and Maura Tracy Healey, Attorney General of Massachusetts. (2018, Mar. 29). https://casetext.com/case/exxon-mobil-corp-v-schneiderman

The court held that Exxon's allegations that the attorney generals are pursuing bad faith investigations to violate Exxon's constitutional rights are implausible and therefore must be dismissed for failure to state a claim.

The attorney generals of Texas, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Utah, and Arkansas filed amici curiae in support of Exxon.


Bruggers, J. (2018, Jan. 9). Gov. Matt Bevin laments "hubbub" from climate "joke," while dismissing science and Al Gore. Louisville Courier Journal. https://perma.cc/5BYC-GMWJ

Kentucky governor Bevin stated "But this idea that we all need to be held hostage to a handful of people who contribute nothing to the wealth of this nation, who then will, in turn, shut us down, led by puppeteers like Al Gore, for the lining of their own pockets, in order to make us jump through various regulatory hoops, as if somehow, we, mankind is solely responsible and is solely going to be the solution, is ludicrous."

The majority of climate scientists have stated that global warming is the result of human activity, including burning of Kentucky coal.


Borger, J. (2017, Dec. 18). Trump drops climate change from national security strategy. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/18/trump-drop-climate-change-national-security-strategy

White House officials said that the Trump's national security strategy was the result of 11 months of collaboration among government security, foreign policy and economic agencies. The exclusion of climate change as a security threat conflicts with views and testimony of defense secretary James Mattis.

The previous June, Trump said "I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris" and that the Paris accord "hamstrings the United States while empowering some of the world's top polluting countries."


FOX 4 News.
(2015, Mar. 10).
Governor Rick Scott is denying allegations
that his administration banned use of the terms
"climate change" and "global warming"
in officials reports and speeches.
YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LACzibURXTE
Caputo, M. (2017, Sep. 14). Florida governor remains unsure about climate change after Hurricane Irma. Politico Florida. https://perma.cc/7JJA-DFNS

After Hurricane Irma ravaged Florida, Gov. Rick Scott said "Clearly our environment changes all the time, and whether that's cycles we're going through or whether that's man-made, I wouldn't be able to tell you which one it is. But I can tell you this: We ought to go solve problems. I know we have beach renourishment issues. I know we have flood-mitigation issues."

Scott has repeatedly refused to blame climate change for damaging hurricanes. The difference between his 2017 comments and those he previously made about climate change is that he no longer says "I'm not a scientist."


Margolis, J. (2017, June 1). Why some American conservatives believe in climate change, but don't worry about it. PRI's The World.

"We're not concerned about climate change. We live in North Dakota -- it's cold in the witnter and hot in the summer," Williston North Dakota mayor Howard Klug, said. "We've got a big world, and it's healed itself, it can heal itself, I really believe that. So let's just keep the conservative way of looking at the industry and also what we're trying to do in harmony with the planet and hopefully it works out," Klug added.

Klug's optimistic attitude is unrealistic, and will do nothing to undo the changes that scientists agree humans have caused.


Meyer, K. (2017, Mar. 28). At gas conference, Wagner makes baseless climate change claims. Witf. https://perma.cc/8DA7-BBP4

Republican senator and Pennsylvania gubernatorial hopeful, Scott Wagner, believes that climate change is probably happening, but the US "shouldn't worry too much about emissions. I haven't been in a science class in a long time, but the earth moves closer to the sun every year--you know the rotation of the earth," Wagner said. "We're moving closer to the sun."

Wagner added "We have more people...you know, humans have warm bodies. So is heat coming off? Things are changing...but I think we are, as a society, doing the best we can."

Obviously Wagner hasn't been in science class, possibly ever. The earth is not moving closer to the sun, but he is visiting rural counties to see the impact of drilling.


Climate change: Atmospheric carbon dioxide
NOAA/Lindsey, R.
(2020, Aug. 14).
Climate change: Atmospheric carbon dioxide.
https://www.climate.gov/news-features
/understanding-climate/
climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide
public domain
DiChristopher, T. (2017, Mar. 9). EPA chief Scott Pruitt says carbon dioxide is not a primary contributor to global warming. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/09/epa-chief-scott-pruitt.html

During an CNBC Squawk Box interview, EPA administrator Scott Pruitt said he doesn't believe carbon dioxide is a primary global warming contributor.

"I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there's tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so no, I would not agree that it's a primary contributor to the global warming that we see," Pruitt said.

Pruitt's statement contradicts the EPA The statement contradicts the EPA's website: "Carbon dioxide is the primary greenhouse gas that is contributing to recent climate change."

According to NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration "The planet's average surface temperature has risen about 2.0oF (1.1oC) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere."

Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz, co-chair of the Senate Climate Action Task Force, called Pruitt's comments "extreme" and "irresponsible," adding "Anyone who denies over a century's worth of established science and basic facts is unqualified to be the administrator of the EPA. Now more than ever, the Senate needs to stand up to Scott Pruitt and his dangerous views."


Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter. (2017, Mar. 8). Former WPX exec will be fox guarding New Mexico Energy Department hen house. KRWG Public Media. https://perma.cc/4JYF-JR96

Ken McQueen was the New Mexico nominee for secretary of Energy, Mining and Natural Minerals Department. NASA scientists determined that the methane hotspot at the Four Corners area is caused in part caused by natural gas drilling in New Mexico.

McQueen said "My personal opinion is that the methane hotspot has existed for at least the last 10 million years" and is naturally occurring. He added "I think climate change has been with us since the beginning of time... it's quite clear that there were times in our history when the earth was colder than it is today and there were times when it was hotter than it is today."

Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter Director Camilla Feibelman said "McQueen's answer is a Fox News talking point used by climate deniers to make refusing to protect our children seem less monstrous. Scientists tell us that if we don't act quickly to reduce carbon pollution, climate disruption could have catastrophic effects on civilization within decades."

McQueen made several more unscientific and blatantly wrong comments during his confirmation hearing.


 
Budget and Finance

Global surface temperatures
EFbrazil
(2021, Feb. 2).
Global surface temperatures.
Wikipedia Climate Change.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change#/
media/File:Global_Temperature_And_Forces.svg
CC BY-SA 4.0
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. (2019, Mar. 11). EPA budget cuts proposed for FY20. https://climate.law.columbia.edu/content/epa-budget-cuts-proposed-fy20

The Trump administration's 2020 proposed budget would have reduced EPA funding by $2.8 billion, 31.2% compared to FY2019 levels. The reduction would have affected the Global Change Research Program, which studies the environmental and health effects of climate change, and identifies options for managing those effects.

The EPA said the program was being eliminated to enable the agency to "prioritize activities that support decision-making related to core environmental statutory requirements."

The Science to Achieve Results Program funds environmental science and engineering research grants and graduate fellowships. The EPA stated the program was being eliminated so the agency could "prioritize activities that support decision-making related to core environmental statutory requirements, as opposed to extramural activities."

The projects in danger the Environmental Education Program, which increases environmental public awareness, the Endochrine Disruption Program, which develops pesticide testing methods to determine their potential interference with normal endocrine system function and the Water Research Grants Program, which funds water resource protection programs.


Mulvaney, M., & Kratsios, M. (2018, Jul. 31). FY 2020 administration research and development budget priorities. https://perma.cc/WRB2-PMH4

The memorandum indicates that federal R&D funding should be "focused primarily on basic and early-stage applied research," identifying eight priority areas: American security, artificial intelligence and computing, connectivity and autonomy, manufacturing, space exploration and commercialization, energy dominance, medical innovation and agriculture.

The document failed to address any aspect of the climate.


Popkin, G. (2017, Dec. 11). Major Federal Tropical Research Project to Cease 7 Years Early. EOS. https://eos.org/articles/major-federal-tropical-research-project-to-cease-7-years-early

U.S. Department of Energy's $100 million Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiment-Tropics launched in 2015.

The project brought together more than 130 scientists from five of DOE's 17 national laboratories and external organizations, including the U.S. Forest Service's IITF, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, and the National Institute for Amazonian Research in Manaus, Brazil.

The program was scheduled to end in 2025, but the White House decided that the program would end in 2018, seven years ahead of schedule.


Eilperin, J. (2017, Sep. 4). EPA now requires political aide's sign-off for agency awards, grant applications. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/epa-now-requires-political-aides-sign-off-for-agency-awards-grant-applications/2017/09/04/2fd707a0-88fd-11e7-a94f-3139abce39f5_story.html?utm_term=.e1be85149ef7

The EPA put a "political operative" in charge of deciding how millions of EPA grant dollars would be distributed. John Konkus is a former Trump campaign aide with almost no environmental policy experience, who has indicated to staff that he is looking for "the double C-word, climate change.

He told grant officers to eliminate all references of climated change in grant proposals. So far he has canceled $2 million awarded to universities and nonprofit organizations.


 
Education Interference

Global greenhouse gas emissions
EPA.
(2021, Jul. 21).
Climate change indicators:
Global greenhouse gas emissions.
https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/
climate-change-indicators-
global-greenhouse-gas-emissions
public domain
Branch, G. (2020, Jan. 22). Antiscience legislation resurfaces in South Dakota. National Center for Science Education. https://ncse.ngo/antiscience-legislation-resurfaces-south-dakota

Senate Bill 29 introduced language stating "No teacher may be prohibited from helping students understand, analyze, critique, or review, in an objective manner, the strengths and weaknesses of scientific information presented in courses being taught" in accordance with the state's science education standards.

Organizations opposing the bill included the South Dakota Department of Education, the School Administrators of South Dakota, the National Science Teachers Association, the National Association of Biology Teachers, the National Association of Geoscience Teachers, the American Institute of Biological Sciences, the Associated School Boards of South Dakota, and the South Dakota Education Association.


National Center for Science Education. (2019, Mar. 1). A third antiscience bill in Florida. https://ncse.ngo/third-antiscience-bill-florida

SB 1454 required Florida public school curriculum to "provide objective, balanced, and noninflammatory viewpoints on controversial issues," but failed to define "controversial." Evolution and climate change are two of the bill's targets. The bill allowed Floridians to challenge instructional materials to which they objected.

Brandon Haught of Florida Citizens for Science stated "This bill is a clear and present danger to all of Florida education. It essentially gives special interest groups...immense power to bully school boards into submission," and "We can't just assume that bad bills like this one will be sidelined. We have to remain vigilant and active."


Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. (2019, Feb. 9). Resolution undermining teaching of climate change introduced in Virginia. https://climate.law.columbia.edu/content/resolution-undermining-teaching-climate-change-introduced-virginia-0

HJ 684 was aimed at preventing "political or ideological indoctrination" of school children. It would encourage the Virginia State Board of Education to adopt rules that prevent public elementary and secondary school teachers from "[a]dvocat[ing] for any issue that is part of a political party platform at the national, state, or local level."

Science education groups were concerned that the bill, if passed, would limit teachers' ability to discuss climate change.


Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. (2019, Feb. 7). Bill Misrepresenting Causes of Climate Change Introduced in Montana. https://climate.law.columbia.edu/content/bill-misrepresenting-causes-climate-change-introduced-montana-0

House Bill 418 was introduced in the Montana legislature. The bill falsely claimed that:
(a) reasonable amounts of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere have no verifiable impacts on the environment;
(b) science shows human emissions do not change atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions enough to cause climate change;
(c) claims that carbon associated with human activities causes climate change are invalid; and
(d) nature, not human activity, causes climate change.

The Montana House Natural Resource Committe voted not to advance the bill.


Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. (2019, Feb. 1). Bill undermining teaching of climate change introduced in Iowa.

House File 2184 directed teachers "engaging in political or ideological advocacy" in the classroom. It required the Iowa State Board of Education to adopt rules that prevent teachers from "[a]dvocating in a partisan manner for any side of a controversial issue." Teachers would have to "provide students with materials supporting all sides of the controversial issue to present those views in a fair-minded, nonpartisan manner."

The bill defined "controversial issue" to include any issue addressed in an "electoral party platform at the local, state or federal level," which includes climate change.


Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. (2019, Feb. 1). Bill undermining teaching of climate change introduced in Maine. https://climate.law.columbia.edu/content/bill-undermining-teaching-climate-change-introduced-maine-0

LD 589 was aimed at preventing "teachers in public schools from engaging in political, ideological or religious advocacy in the classroom." The Maine State Board of Education would be forced to adopt rules preventing teachers from "[a]dvocating in a partisan manner for any side of a controversial issue" and requiring "teacher[s] to provide students with materials supporting both sides of a controversial issue... and to present both sides in a fair-minded, nonpartisan manner."

The bill defined a "controversial issue: as any "electoral party platform at the local, state or federal level."

Science education groups stated that anthropogenic climate change would likely be deemed a "controversial issue." meaning that teachers would have been required to present human effects on climate as theoretical. They would have also had to teach about alternative theories explaining global temperature increases.


Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. (2019, Jan. 24). Bill Restricting Teaching of Climate Change Introduced in Connecticut. https://climate.law.columbia.edu/content/bill-restricting-teaching-climate-change-introduced-connecticut-0

HB 5995 was introduced in the Connecticut legislature. Its goal was to "eliminate climate change materials from the Department of Education's adopted Next Generation Science Standards," removing climate change from Connecticut science curriculum.

The bill's sponsor, Representative John Piscopo, state that this bill was "appropriate" because climate change is a "controversial area" yet to be proven.

The bill failed on June 5, 2019.


Al Jazeera.
(2015, Dec. 4).
The GOP Is Full Of Climate Change Deniers.
YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPVk2lYzkvw
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. (2018, Dec. 14). Bill Undermining Teaching of Climate Change Introduced in Arizona. https://climate.law.columbia.edu/content/bill-undermining-teaching-climate-change-introduced-arizona-0

HB 2002 was aimed at preventing "teachers in taxpayer-supported schools from engaging in political, ideological or religious advocacy in the classroom." It required the Arizona State Board of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop an "educator code of ethics and professional responsibility."

The code had to prevent teachers from "[a]dvocating in a partisan manner for any side of a controversial issue" and require "teacher[s] to provide students with materials supporting both sides of a controversial issue... and to present both sides in a fair-minded, nonpartisan manner."

The bill defined "controversial issue" to include any issue addressed in an "electoral party platform at the local, state or federal level."

Science education groups were concerned the bill would restrict climate change discussions in schools. Teachers would have been forced to present human-induced climate change as a disputed theory.

The bill failed to leave its committee on February 22, 2019.


Uyttebrouck, O. (2017, Sep. 16). Whose science? Critics say proposed NM science standards omit evolution, climate change. Albuquerque Journal. https://www.abqjournal.com/1064653/whose-science-excerpt-critics-say-proposed-nm-science-standards-omit-evolution-climate-change.html

The proposed science standard curriculum changes would eliminate a reference to Earth's "4.6 billion year history," replacing it with "geologic history." It replaces "rise in global temperatures" with temperature "fluctuations."

Critics deemed the changes a "watered-down" version of national science standards that weaken eduction and discourage science industry companies from locating in New Mexico.

Kim Johnson, physicist and former president of the New Mexico Academy of Sciences said "I'm certainly not going to move a high-tech company here, because I'm not going to get a scientifically educated population. We're doing the one thing in terms of educating our children that tend to push those kinds of businesses away." Johnson said the proposed standards are an attempt to appease evolution and climate change deniers.


Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. (2017, May 2). Proven Scientific Theories Questioned by Alabama Legislature.

The Alabama legislature passed House Joint Resolution 78. Science educators say this law will give teachers the ability to question established scientific theories about climate change and evolution. The resolution declared "biological evolution," "human cloning," and "global warming" as "controversial theories." The law pushed science teachers to discuss "alternatives."

The lead sponsor of the bill, Rep Mack Butler, said the bill is intended to encourage the teaching of creationism in Alabama public schools.


 
Government Censorship

Sea surface temperatures
EPA.
(2021, Jul. 18).
Climate Change Indicators:
Sea Surface Temperature.
https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/
climate-change-indicators-sea-surface-temperature
public domain
Beitsch, R. (2019, Oct. 3). White House nixes climate change language from vehicle emissions proposal. The Hill. https://perma.cc/7MME-D4Z4

The White House removed language calling climate change a "serious challenge" from a proposal that limits California's ability to set tougher vehicle emissions standards.

The changes were made to the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule proposed by the EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In September, Trump tweeted that he was revoking the waiver California and 13 other states relied on for more than 50 years to mandate tougher emissions standards.


Athey, P. (2019, Aug. 7). Navy quietly shut down climate change task force. E & E News. https://perma.cc/X3GU-PRKW

The Task Force on Climate Change had issued several reports on the challenges of climate change, including melting of Arctic ice, sea-level rise and extreme weather and their effects on naval installations.

Retired Navy Rear Adm. Jon White, who ran TFCC from 2012 to 2015, said "It all goes back to the White House. That's what changed."

Trump was a loud climate science critic, repeatedly calling it a hoax that hurts the US and benefits China.


Nost, E., Gehrke, G., Lemelin, A., Braun, S., Beck, M., Brackett, R., Allan, D., Wylie, S., Breseman, K., Knutson, S., Aizman, A., Anjur-Deitrich, M., Johns, S., Kulik, K., Nguyen, K., Rinberg, T., Wylie, J. (2019, Jul. 22). The new digital landscape: How the Trump administration has undermined federal web infrastructures for climate information. Environmental Data & Governance Initiative. https://envirodatagov.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/New_Digital_Landscape_EDGI_July_2019.pdf

The authors concluded that "The Trump administration has undermined environmental governance by disinvesting in website maintenance and restricting access to content on issues such as climate change. These website changes actively erode the digital bridge by which publicly-funded research is contextualized and shared with those in need of information, including the general public and decision-makers in state, local, and tribal governments."


Evich, H. (2019, Jul. 18). Trump's USDA buried sweeping climate change response plan. Politico. https://perma.cc/QD5G-UEKM

A USDA employee reported that the Agriculture Department suppressed the release of a climate change response plan that was finalized in the early days of the Trump administration. The employee spoke to Politico on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution.

The plan proposed "moving agriculture and natural resource systems to carbon neutral and beyond," reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through practices such as increasing carbon storage in crops and soils, studying human impacts on climate change through production, trade, pricing and producer and consumer behavior.

The plan also stated that "Changing temperatures and precipitation, along with altered pest pressures, influence rates of crop maturation and livestock productivity...Forests are already experiencing increased disturbance, including widespread wildfires and pest-related die-offs, as a result of changing climactic conditions and prolonged drought Elevated carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is already affecting the quality of grassland forage."

The plan added that the USDA should "increase public awareness of climate change" and its effects on agriculture and forestry.


The Washington Post. (2019, Jun. 8). Testimony from Rod Schoonover: "The National Security Implications of Climate Change." https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/the-national-security-implications-of-climate-change/d5977183-15d9-45eb-a011-d4c701b02594/?utm_term=.b673f48d359c

White House officials barred a State Department intelligence agency from submitting this written testimony to the House Intelligence Committee. State officials refused to excise the document's references to federal scientific findings on climate change.

Dr. Rod Schoonover, senior analyst for the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, was scheduled to testify before Congress on negative implications of climate change based on more than 20 climate and security parameters.


Vice News.
(2017, Jun. 2).
Trump got climate change pretty wrong in his Paris speech (HBO).
YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUexd7pujZ8
Davenport, C., & Landler, M. (2019, May 27). Trump administration hardens its attack on climate science. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/27/us/politics/trump-climate-science.html

Trump rolled environmental regulations, pulled the US out of the Paris climate accord and disregarded predictions about the effects of climate change.

The White House initiated plans to prevent federal efforts to curb greenhouse-gas emissions while preventing the USGS from including worst-case scenarios in climate studies.


Marsh, R. (2018, Dec. 14). Access denied: 2 climate change pages removed from DOT's website. CNN. https://perma.cc/J3GA-PLQ6

CNN discovered that at least two pages on the Department of Transportation (DOT) website discussing impacts of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions had been removed. One of these pages was originally designed as a "one-stop source of information on transportation and climate issues."

Clicking on the links for DOT's Transportation and Climate Change Clearinghouse and Climate Change Impacts pages resulted in an "Access denied. You are not authorized to access this page" message.


Sun Sentinel Editorial Board. (2017, Dec. 23). South Florida business leaders add muscle to call on climate change. https://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/editorials/fl-op-editorial-climate-action-plan-20171219-story.html

The editorial board's assessment of the meeting characterizes the view of many Florida business leaders:

"And generally speaking, the business community skews right. And Republican leaders are loathe to talk about climate, er, flooding, because the next question is, what are we going to do about it? And that gets at ending our nation's dependence on fossil fuels, which means new government regulations, which - and they're right about this - can be costly for businesses. And with so many people thinking - wrongly so - that this is not a problem we will face in our lifetimes, it's just easier to ignore the whole thing."

"Remember, Republican Gov. Rick Scott refuses to acknowledge climate change, even after meeting with a group of climate scientists three years ago. Though he's stopped saying 'I'm not a scientist,' he won't let state employees use the terms 'climate change' or 'global warming' in official correspondence."


Cama, T. (2017, Dec. 15). Zinke reprimanded park head after climate tweets. The Hill. https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/364994-zinke-reprimanded-park-head-after-climate-tweets

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke summoned David Smith, superintendent of Joshua Tree National Park, to his office to reprimand Smith for climate change-related tweets, per Trump administration directives. Fortunately the tweets were not deleted because they didn't violate National Park Service policies.

Current models show that future Joshua tree habitat may be reduced by 90% because of increased global temperatures.


McCullum, A. (2017, Dec. 4). Governor's staff struck climate change language from Act 250 report. Burlington Free Press. https://perma.cc/7FGD-R5MV

Gov. Phil Scott's office removed recommendations about climate change from a draft report about a potential overhaul of Act 250.

In the report, the Vermont Natural Resources Board, identified a "strong need...to conduct a discussion on climate change" which would "dramatically affect the health of our natural resources" and "require different considerations for what is appropriate devtelopment and how infrastructure should be evaluated."

Scott's office claimed that climate change recommendations removed from Act 250 would come later from the governor's Vermont Climate Change Commission, but that did not occur.


"Well, I think the climate change is just a very, very expensive form of tax. A lot of people are making a lot of money.

I know much about climate change. I'd be-received environmental awards.

And I often joke that this is done for the benefit of China. Obviously, I joke. But this is done for the benefit of China, because China does not do anything to help climate change. They burn everything you could burn; they couldn't care less. They have very-you know, their standards are nothing.

But they-in the meantime, they can undercut us on price. So it's very hard on our business." - Donald Trump, 2016.

Source: Cillizza, C. (2017, Aug. 8). Donald Trump doesn't think much of climate change, in 20 quotes.
https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/08/politics/trump-global-warming/index.html
Patterson, B. (2017, Oct. 31). Critics are accusing the Trump administration of stifling the dissemination of taxpayer-funded science. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/government-scientist-blocked-from-talking-about-climate-and-wildfires/

A US Forest Service scientist scheduled to talk about the relationship betwee climate change and wildfire conditions was denied approval to attend the conference featuring fire experts from around the country.

Research ecologist William Jolly, of the Rocky Mountain Research Station in Missoula, Montana was supposed to give a presentation entitled "Climate-Induced Variations in Global Severe Fire Weather Conditions" at the Orlando, Florida International Fire Congress.

The travel denial follows reports that the EPA blocked three scientists from making presentations at a Rhode Island climate change conference. Critics blamed the Trump administration.


Friedman, L. (2017, Oct. 22). E.P.A. Cancels Talk on Climate Change by Agency Scientists. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/22/climate/epa-scientists.html?mtrref=www.google.com

The EPA canceled speaking appearance by three agency scientists who were going to discuss climate change at a Rhode Island conference.

EPA spokesman and former Florida Trump campaign staffer, John Konkus, confirmed the cancellation without explanation.


Repanshek, K. (2017, Jul. 23). Traveler's View: Interior Department Fumbles Zuckerberg Visit To Glacier National Park. National Parks Traveler. https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2017/07/travelers-view-interior-department-fumbles-zuckerberg-visit-glacier-national-park

Park superintendent Jeff Mow and Dr. Dan Fagre, director of the USGS Climate Change in Mountain Ecosystems Project, and Lead Investigator in the USGS Benchmark Glacier Program, had planned to travel with Mark Zuckerberg around Glacier National Park during his Montana visitT. The Trump administration cancelled their plans, claiming that "It costs too much."

National Parks Traveler noted that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke had recently tourhed Bears Ears National Monument, Utah, to determine its national monument status. His visit included three Black Hawk helicopters at a combined cost of $8,100 per hour.


Kruesi, K. (2017, Feb. 9). Lawmakers strip climate change references from new Idaho K-12 standards. Idaho Statesman. https://perma.cc/AVE8-R6ME?type=image

Republicans on the House Education Committee removed section of Idaho's education standards addressing monitoring human impact on climate change. Democrats objected.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra suggested that the committee approve the bills with the Republican deletions.

"I thought today went great. I thought it was a great compromise. I'm not worrked about presenting both sides," Ybarra said.


 
Personnel Obstruction

Area of the contiguous 48 states with unusually hot summer temperatures
EPA.
(2021, Jul. 18).
Climate Change Indicators:
High and Low Temperatures.
https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/
climate-change-indicators-
high-and-low-temperatures
public domain
Herz, N. (2019, Feb. 23). Alaska GOP Gov. Dunleavy disbands state climate response team. https://www.alaskapublic.org/2019/02/23/alaska-gop-gov-dunleavy-disbands-state-climate-response-team/

Dunleavy revoked a 2017 order by the previous governor, Ind. Bill Walker, who created a task force in charge of forming Alaska's climate change plan. Rather than publicly announcing the disbanding of the 20-member task force, Dunleavy sent letters to members telling them their task force work was over. Dunleavy apparently also ordered the shut down of the state's climate strategy plan.

While campaigning for governor, Dunleavy said "I think we have a lot of issues that, in my opinion, are quite frankly and bluntly more important than the climate task force."

Dunleavy's spokesperson, Matt Shuckerow said "No governor should be tied to a previous administration's work product or political agenda, and nobody should be surprised to see Gov. Dunleavy make this decision."

Walker created the task force because he believed global warming threatened Alaska's natural resources and posed risks to residents' "health, safety and economic future."

Alaska is warming at twice the global average since the mid-20th century. A November federal climate report said that between 2008 and 2030, climate change could cost the state between $3 billion to $6 billion.


Cama, T. (2017, Apr. 7). EPA shutting down climate adaptation program. The Hill. https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/327854-epa-shutting-climate-adaptation-program

As part of the Trump administration's proposal to cut 31% from the EPA's budget, the EPA shut down a program that aids states and local governments plan for climate change effects and rising sea level. An EPA official said that the four staff members would be reassigned.

Mick Mulvaney, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, told reporters Trump doesn't believe climate research deserves federal funding. "I think the president was fairly straightforward - we're not spending money on that anymore; we consider that to be a waste of your money to go out and do that."


Friedman, L.
(2017, Aug. 9).
Climate change report vs. EPA chief Scott Pruitt.
The New York Times.
YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/WAUIBOEiyhE
Eilperin, J., & Dennis, B. (2017, May 8). EPA dismisses half of key board's scientific advisers; Interior suspends more than 200 advisory panels. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/05/07/epa-dismisses-half-of-its-scientific-advisers-on-key-board-citing-clean-break-with-obama-administration/

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt replaced half of the members on one of its key scientific review boards. Pruitt brought in new advisors, notifying several current advisors that they would be relieved of their duties at the end of their three-year terms.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke was "reviewing the charter and charge" of more than 200 advisory boards, committees and other entities both within and outside his department. Zinke's review suspended the Bureau of Land Management's 38 resource advisory councils, including one assessing invasive species threats in Alaska.

EPA spokesperson J. P. Freire said "We're not going to rubber-stamp the last administration's appointees. Instead, they should participate in the same open competitive process as the rest of the applicant pool. "This approach is what was always intended for the board, and we're making a clean break with the last administrations approach."

Interior spokesperson Heather Swift stated that "The Secretary is committed to restoring trust in the Department's decision-making and that begins with institutionalizing state and local input and ongoing collaboration, particularly in communities surrounding public lands. As the Department concludes its review in the weeks ahead, agencies will notice future meetings to ensure that the Department continues to get the benefit of the views of local communities in all decision-making on public land management.

Many of the outgoing advisors said that the Pruitt and Zinke decisions made no sense, but conservatives were pleased with the decisions.

Several former aides of Oklahoma Sen. James M. Inhofe now work for Pruitt. Inhofe, who has repeatedly stated his skepticism for the connection between human activity and climate change, said that under the Trump administration, "they're going to have to start dealing with science, and not rigged science."

EPA panels members are primarily scientists and others with the expertise to guide the agency into making sound scientific decisions. House Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith of Texas, argued that the EPA Scientific Advisory Board should be expanded to include more non-academics. "The EPA routinely stacks this board with friendly scientists who receive millions of dollars in grants from the federal government. The conflict of interest here is clear."

A budget proposal obtained by The Washington Post last month showed that the EPA panel's operating budget was about to undergo an 84% cut, $542,000, for fiscal 2018. Those funds were used to pay for travel expenses for science experts attending meetings.

Joe Arvai, a member of the Scientific Advisory Board, said "By making these moves, the administrator and members of the House can pander to the president's base by looking like they're getting tough on all those pesky 'liberal scientists.' But, all else being equal, nothing fundamentally changes about how the SAB operates."


 
Research Deterrance

Friedman, L. (2020, Jul. 14). A war against climate science, waged by Washington's rank and file. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/climate/climate-science-trump.html

The Trump administration's efforts to undermine climate change research were also practiced by midlevel managers, worried about their jobs and budgets.

USGS research chemist John Crusius published an academic paper on natural solutions to climate change in April, without his government affiliation listed. He was told that there could be no connection between his research and his government position. "There is no doubt in my mind that my paper was denied government approval because it had to do with efforts to mitigate climate change."

Many other government scientists reported similar experiences.

Government experts were surprised how quickly federal employees had accepted the Trump administration's dangerous anti-climate change mandates. An inspector general's report at the EPA discovered that nearly 400 employees believed a manager suppressed the release of scientific information, but they didn't report these violations.


Plumer, B., & Davenport, C. (2019, Dec. 28). Science under attack: How Trump is sidelining researchers and their work. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/28/climate/trump-administration-war-on-science.html

The National Park Service's principal climate change scientist, Patrick Gonzalez, received a "cease and desist" letter from his supervisors after testifying to Congress about the risks that global warming posed to national parks. Gonzales "saw it as attempted intimidation."

He made it clear that he was speaking as an associate adjunct professor at the University California, Berkeley "It's interference with science and hinders our work."


NBC News.
(2019, Sep. 28).
Cruz claims "The data are mixed" on climate change.
YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z0JWONI-d9w
US Senator for Texas Ted Cruz. (2018, Jun. 20). Sens. Cruz, Paul, Lankford, and Inhofe call for investigation at the National Science Foundation. https://www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=3904

Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), and Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) requested that NSF Inspector General Allison Lerner investigate the agency's grant funding process. The senators were concerned that the NSF has "issued several grants which seek to influence political and social debate rather than conduct scientific research," claiming that doing so contradicts federal law and NSF mission.

The senators said that the NSF gave more than $4 million to a climate change coalition "to turn television meteorologists into climate change evangelists." They claimed "Research designed to sway individuals of a various group, be they meteorologists or engineers, to a politically contentious viewpoint is not science - it is propagandizing. Such efforts certainly fail to meet the standard of scientific research to which the NSF should be devoting federal taxpayer dollars."


McKie, R. (2017, Nov. 5). Republicans accused of obstructing satellite research into climate change. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/nov/05/donald-trump-accused-blocking-satellite-climate-change-research?CMP=share_btn_tw

The Republican majority in Congress insisted that a backup sea-ice probe be dismantled because it refused to fund storage costs.

David Gallaher of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, said "This is like throwing away the medical records of a sick patient. Our world is ailing and we have apparently decided to undermine, quite deliberately, the effectiveness of the records on which its recovery might be based. It is criminal."

The US sea-ice program provides data worldwide. International climate talks in Bonn will likely conclude that the Trump administration is trying to block this global warming research, despite evidence that Earth's sea ice is shrinking, especially in the Arctic as a result of increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

The US Defense Meteorological Satellite Program is critical to the measurement of sea ice loss. The satellites have shown that millions of square kilometers of sea ice have disappeared from the Arctic over the past 20 years. As a result, less solar energy is reflected back into space, increasing global temperatures and damaging wildlife habitats.

Three sea-ice satellites, DMSP F16, F17 and F18, are still operating as part of the sea ice measurement program, but each is beginning to drift out of their orbits above the poles. F19 stopped functioning in October, 2017, and should have been replaced with the satellite that Congress insisted be dismantled.

Many scientists warned that the satellite was dismantled for political reasons, and that other climate change monitoring programs were in danger from the Trump administration and Republican Congress.


Sabin Center for Climate Change and Law. (2017, April) DOE-Funded Research Paper Subject to Additional Review Due to Climate References. https://climate.law.columbia.edu/content/doe-funded-research-paper-subject-additional-review-due-climate-references

During the Obama Administration, the Department of Energy awarded a $1.3 million grant to Dr. Noah Diffenbaugh, a climate scientist at Stanford University. He wrote several papers based on his research results, including one that included a four-step testing process to determine the degree of climate change contribution to extreme weather events.

After paper was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in April 2017, Diffenabugh was contacted by staff from DEO's Biological and Environmental Research program. They were concerned about his use of the term "extreme event attribution," and references to Obama-era policies, including the Clean Power Plan, Paris Agreement, and social cost of carbon.

Diffenbaugh was told that the paper needed additional review and references to DOE funding would need to be removed. Stanford University requires full funding disclosure, so removal of the DOE reference would have prevented publication.

Diffenbaugh also wrote a paper describing how achievement of the Paris Agreement's greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets would affect extreme weather events. It was also subject to additional review because it included "red flag words," such as Paris Agreement. Diffenbaugh was again told that he would need to remove the DOE funding reference. He refused, and funding for his project was terminated.


 
Self-Censorship

"After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them - specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter - we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence."

Source: Twitter, Inc. (2021, Jan. 21). Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump. https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/
topics/company/2020/suspension
Miller, K. (2018, Jan. 3). As an EPA intern, I was barred from mentioning climate change. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/as-an-epa-intern-i-was-barred-rom-mentioning-climate-change/2018/01/02/acd991d2-ecb7-11e7-b698-91d4e35920a3_story.html

As an intern, Miller wrote tweets for the EPA. She was instructed by a coworker to not mention climate change or going "green," but to tweet about "conserving energy" or "saving money." She didn't know the original source for this instruction.

Miller began by looking through old tweets. She noted that some of the EPA climate change links included in those tweets were dead.

Miller scanned the EPA Instagram account. Images posted during the Obama administration featured EPA employess from all over the country, Superfund sites turned into parks and scientist Bill Nye.

All Trump administration Instagram posts included EPA chief Scott Pruitt in every picture or video, usually with one of his quotes.

Miller found "We as a nation can be both pro energy and jobs and pro environment...We don't have to choose between the two."

Of her internship experience Miller concluded, "I was helping to communicate the EPA's goals to the public. And those goals were no longer about putting the environment first, especially if doing so would affect American industries."


Union of Concerned Scientists. (2018). Science Under Trump: Voices of Scientists across 16 Federal Agencies. https://perma.cc/888E-FBEM

The Trump administration's science policy undermined the role of science in decision-making, expanding the influence of regulated industries, excluding public voices, censoring scientists, overriding and dismissing science advice, and hindering the collection and dissemination of scientific information.

UCS documented this poor record in its 2017 report, Sidelining Science from Day One, in its blog, and in the ongoing "Attacks on Science" web feature.

In February and March 2018, in partnership with the Center for Survey Statisics and Methodology at Iowa State University, UCD surveyed more than 63,000 scientific experts employed by the federal government.

Federal scientists described workforce cuts, censorship and self-censorship, political interference, and undue industry influence, all of which have negatively affected morale, efficiency and effectiveness.

The survey demonstrated that the EPA and the Department of Interior as having leadership with the poorest scientific integrity, while the FDA and NOAA were doing fairly well in protecting their scientists' work.


Marshall, C. (2017, Dec. 12). Emails shed light on controversial DOE request to remove "climate change" from abstracts. https://www.science.org/news/2017/12/emails-shed-light-controversial-doe-request-remove-climate-change-abstracts

A DOE official's request for scientists to remove "climate change" from research abstracts was ordered by senior national lab managers and was intended to satisfy Trump's budget request, according to emails obtained by E&E News.

The communications, obtained through a FOIA request, suggested that officials at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington, a national lab funded by DOE, were trying to protect scientists.

The emails do not explain why the requests were made, given that the Trump plan was not law.

Andrew Rosenberg, director of the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said senior officials "don't have the authority to say...'We don't care whether Congress appropriated the funds.'"

In August, Northeastern University associate professor Jennifer Bowen posted a letter on Facebook from a DOE employee asking her to remove climate language from her research summary on salt marsh carbon sequestration. Other scientists who received similar letters identified the sender as Ashley Gilbert, a project coordinator at PNNL.

Gilbert acted at the request of Terry Law, a manager of user services at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), a user facility at PNNL. Greg Koller, PNNL spokesperson, said Law was directed by "EMSL management," and that the request to remove the climate change reference was a "team decision."

Law said removing climate language was necessary. Trump's budget proposal called for elimination of user access for EMSL research related to "climate feedbacks and carbon."


Maron, D. (2017, Jan. 27). CDC's canceled climate change summit raises self-censorship concerns. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cdc-rsquo-s-canceled-climate-change-summit-raises-self-censorship-concerns/

Physician Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, scheduled opening speaker at the Conference, said planners canceled the conference, fearing political backlash from the Trump administration. "Obviously it was informed by the fact that there were a lot of mixed messages about support for climate change [science], and during the campaign there was a lot said on that."

Howard Frumkin, former director of the CDC's National Center for Environmental Health and currently an environmental health professor at the University of Washington's School of Public Health, said "It was canceled because of political nervousness about the new administration's attitudes toward climate change work."

According to an email obtained by Scientific American, the CDC explained to speakers "Unfortunately, we are unable to hold the Summit in February 2017 as scheduled. We are currently exploring options so that the summit may take place later in the year. We will provide additional details in early 2017."

The conference was rescheduled, with former Vice Pres. Al Gore as the host at the nonprofit Carter Center in Atlanta.


 
Biden Administration and the Return of Government Agency Climate Information on the Internet

EPA.
(2020, Dec. 3).
The EPA Administrators: Looking back
at 50 years of environmental protection.
YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGRHCfC5oqM
Budryk, Z. (2021, May 12). EPA relaunches website tracking climate change indicators. The Hill. https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/553235-epa-relaunches-website-tracking-climate-change-indicators

The EPA relaunched its updated climate change indicators website, the first time since the beginning of the Trump administration. The climate assessment includes information on 54 phenomena associated with climate change, including temperature increases, flooding, droughts, rising sea levels and ocean acidity.


NASA. (2021). Global climate change. https://climate.nasa.gov/

NASA's site includes News and Features, Explore, Play and Learn: Climate Kids sections and a Climate Resource Center.


NASA Climate Time Machine. (2021). https://climate.nasa.gov/interactives/climate-time-machine

This site includes interactives that demonstrate how sea ice, sea level, carbon dioxide and global temperatures are changing.


National Park Service Climate Change. (2021). https://www.nps.gov/subjects/climatechange/index.htm

This site provides access to articles, videos and climate-related reports on America's national parks.


NOAA Climate.gov. (2021). https://www.climate.gov/

This site describes itself as "science & information for a climate-smart nation." It includes News & Features, Maps & Data and Teaching Climate sections. There are hundreds of free downloadable and interactive resources for students and teachers.


US EPA. (2021). Climate Change Indicators in the United States. https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators

The EPA climate change indicator website, which was gutted by the Trump administration, was reinstated by the Biden administration. It includes links to greenhouse gasses, weather and climate, oceans, snow and ice, health and society and ecosystems websites.


US Global Change Research Program. (2021). https://www.globalchange.gov/

The site includes links to Understand: Climate Change, Assess: National Climaate Assessment, Explore: USGCRP Highlights, Browse: Reports and Resources and Engage: Connect and Participate.


USGS Climate Change. (2021). https://www.usgs.gov/science-explorer-results?es=climate+change

This site provides access to hundreds of downloadable climate change-related resources.


 
About This Site

This site was created to fulfill a graduate project requirement for Professor Jeannine Relly's fall 2021 540 Freedom of Expression & the RIght to Information course. It includes more than 60 annotated sources with links to original documents, bills, laws, organization websites and a few linked videos.

The sources describe efforts by the Trump administration, and primarily Republican, climate-change-denying state administrations, to limit freedom of expression (FOE) and right to information (RTI).

This list does not include duplicated efforts. Many conservative states passed, or attempted to pass, several bills and laws to discourage educators from presenting climate change as a sound theory supported by ample scientific evidence.

These administrations used bias and misinformation, budget and financing restrictions, interference with education programs and curriculum, government censorship of scientists and other climate experts, personnel obstruction by limiting membership to climate science committees and firing climate experts, research deterrence including threats to cut funding and self-censorship instilled by administrations that intimidated employees who failed to comply.

The Trump administration removed dozens of pages from federal websites providing data on climate change. The federal government's climate science presence on the internet has been restored by the Biden administration. The EPA, NASA, NOAA, and other federal climate agencies have updated their websites, providing new and transparent access to US climate-related data.

The categories were suggested by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, of Columbia Law School and Columbia Climate School.

Clicking on a bibliographic citation will load that citation in a new browser window.

Clicking on underlined and italicized text allows the reader to access additional information.

If an image appears with a magnifying glass in its caption, highlighting the image with the mouse will enable the reader to expand a part of the image.

The site background image was taken by the author.

Questions or comments may be emailed to Dr. Denise Meeks, dmeeks@email.arizona.edu or tucsonkosmicgirl@gmail.com


Denise Meeks, dmeeks@email.arizona.edu