Heartland Institute Analysts Ask NOAA to Withdraw Synthesis Report

Published August 15, 2008

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has overstepped its authority and is attempting to push an alarmist agenda of global warming peril by making informed public comment impossible, policy and legal analysts for The Heartland Institute charged.

The charge follows the July 17 request by NOAA for public comment on a document the agency says synthesizes several ongoing reports assessing climate change. But the August 14 deadline for comments on NOAA’s synthesis report occurred before many of the ongoing reports will be completed, thus making it impossible for informed public comment, the Heartland analysts said.

As a result, they formally requested NOAA withdraw the Climate Change Science Program’s Draft Synthesis Product report because it fails to comply with the Information Quality Act and Federal Advisory Committee Act.

In addition, statements and key findings in the synthesis report presume a global warming alarmist view of climate change science, and the report lacks substantive scientific data to support its conclusions.

Sandy Liddy Bourne, Heartland’s national legislation manager, stated, “Only 8 out of 21 Synthesis and Assessment Products have been completed. The lack of access to the data within the report prohibits scientists, technicians, and the general public from determining whether there is credibility and reliability in the underlying science. This report is supposed to be a guidepost to federal climate change policy, but in its current status it is nothing more than a sham.”

Moreover, the membership of NOAA’s synthesis committee fails to balance the views of parties with differing conclusions about the cause and severity of climate change, notes Maureen Martin, Heartland’s senior fellow for legal affairs.

Martin said the lack of balance on the committee is a violation of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and therefore the committee should be reformed to comply with that act.


For more information …

The full text of the Bourne/Martin comment to NOAA is available on The Heartland Institute Web site.