Environmental and public health experts overwhelmingly denounced editing by the White House of a federal health agency head's testimony to Congress Tuesday. Significant deletions were made from the testimony, concerning global warming and the potential impact on human health.
The original, unedited testimony presented to Congress by Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and obtained by ABC News was 14 pages long, but the White House Office of Management and Budget edited the final version down to a mere six pages.
Scientists and public health organizations called the move "frustrating," "terrible" and "appalling." The edits essentially deleted all sections that referred to climate change as a public health concern -- including the risks of increased food-borne and waterborne diseases, worsening extreme weather events, worsening air pollution and the effect of heat stress on humans.
UPDATE:
Link to Report Showing Testimony and Redaction by OMB:
View text of unedited climate testimony
White House removed large chunk of CDC director's statement
Scientists Denounce Global Warming Report 'Edits': Public Health Experts Say Edits Represent Censoring of Science
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Seeded on Fri Oct 26, 2007 6:23 AM
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