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U.S. watchdog group sues NOAA over warming pause research secrecy
NOAA graphic
The GWPF reports: The conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch announced Tuesday that it is suing the Obama administration to obtain the same internal communications of federal scientists sought by a House committee in a dispute over global warming research.
The group said in a news release that it filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington on Dec. 2 against the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, seeking the agency’s “methodology for collecting and interpreting data used in climate models.”
The suit stems from an investigation by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, into a blockbuster June study by NOAA scientists that refuted the notion of a global warming “pause.” The research, published in the peer-reviewed journal Science, undercut a talking point for skeptics of the conclusion that the planet’s warming is man-made.
Smith has subpoenaed NOAA Administrator Kathryn Sullivan for the internal communications of the scientists who did the study, as well as emails among other staff members. Last week Sullivan gave the committee about 100 emails written by non-scientists on her staff, but not of the scientists, which Smith has taken off the table for now.
Judicial Watch said it submitted its Freedom of Information Act request for the records in late October. After NOAA did not respond, the group sued.
Among the data it is seeking are atmospheric satellite temperature readings. Smith has said that these readings are more reliable and show smaller rates of warming than the ocean and land data used in the study.
Climate scientists, including those at NOAA, have said that it’s the satellite data that is unreliable.
Judicial Watch took credit for prodding NOAA to release the emails to the committee last week.
Source: Judicial Watch Sues U.S. Government For Records In Warming Pause Dispute | The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF)
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On May 9, 2013, President Obama signed an executive order that made open and machine-readable data the new default for government information. Making information about government operations more readily available and useful is also core to the promise of a more efficient and transparent government.
Over the past few years, the Administration has launched a number of Open Data Initiatives aimed at scaling up open data efforts across the Health, Energy, Climate, Education, Finance, Public Safety, and Global Development sectors.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/open
Source: https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/2015/12/23/u-s-watchdog-group-sues-noaa-over-warming-pause-research-secrecy/
