Earlier this spring, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi created the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. Although it has no legislative-making power, it can study and make recommendations on the problem. This week it took on an American icon: the Smithsonian Institution.
The Committee is investigating allegations by former associate director of the National Museum of Natural History, Robert Sullivan, that Smithsonian officials toned down a climate change exhibit to avoid angering some members of Congress and the Bush administration.
Sullivan charges that the exhibit’s text was rewritten to make the connection between climate change and human activity more uncertain. The Smithsonian has denied the allegations, pointing out that Sullivan “was neither a scientists nor a curator.” Other scientists and curators have said that nothing major was omitted, although some admitted to political sensitivities. John Calder, a lead climate scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told the Associated Press:
"I remember them telling me there was an attempt to make sure there was nothing in there that would be upsetting to any politicians. They're not stupid. They don't want to upset the people who pay them."
The Natural Resources Defense Council had considered co-sponsoring the climate change exhibit but objected to the exhibit's text about uncertainties on the future warming of the planet.
Associated Press, via Examiner.com
