Thursday, March 28, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Thursday, May 25, 2017
UH Manoa Prof Freaks Out After DOI Lightly Edits New Release On Climate Change
By Selected News Articles @ 2:33 AM :: 4296 Views :: Environment, Higher Education

Academic Freaks Out After DOI Lightly Edits New Release On Climate Change

by Chris White, Daily Caller, May 23, 2017

A climate scientist believes the Trump administration’s decision to lightly edit a news release about the academic’s study on global warming is a scandal that rises to the level of a federal crime.

“It’s a crime against the American people,” Neil Frazer, a geophysics professor at University of Hawaii at Manoa, told reporters Monday of the Department of Interior’s (DOI) move to edit out a sentence from a press release discussing the effect climate change has on sea levels.

Frazer and five other academics claim the government’s elimination of the sentence is an affront against their research, which was published on Nature Scientific Reports. Three of the scientists work for the U.S. Geological Survey, while the others hold academic positions at universities.

The DOI allegedly removed from this sentence: “Global climate change drives sea-level rise, increasing the frequency of coastal flooding.”

USGS’ news release leaves the cause of ocean level increases unexplained.

It reads: “The frequency and severity of coastal flooding throughout the world will increase rapidly and eventually double in frequency over the coming decades even with only moderate amounts of sea level rise.”

Frazer called the “suppression” of the information a “scandal.”

They readily admitted the DOI’s decision did not materially affect the content of the study.

“It did not cause any direct inaccuracy, but it did eliminate an important connection to be made by the reader — that global warming is causing sea-level rise,” said Chip Fletcher, a University of Hawaii professor and study co-author. “I disagree with the decision from the upper administration to delete it, not with the scientists who deleted it at the administration’s request.”

Scientists have been living on edge ever since President Donald Trump began pulling back Obama-era climate regulations. The administration’s move to jettison five academics from a scientific advisory board in April has contributed to their angst.

Trump hopes to replace the dismissed scientists with representatives from industries the EPA is responsible for regulating.

The White House issued a draft budget in March detailing billions of dollars in cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency, among others. His budget that month used cuts to the EPA to fund a $54 billion increase in defense spending.

Trump’s budget proposal at the time also proposed cutting nearly $2 billion from the EPA’s $8.1 billion budget. The president also proposed reducing EPA’s 15,000-strong workforce to 12,000.

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

808 Silent Majority

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federalist Society

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Homeschool Association

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Smokers Alliance

Hawaii State Data Lab

Hawaii Together

HIEC.Coop

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Moms for Liberty

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

Investigative Project on Terrorism

July 4 in Hawaii

Kakaako Cares

Keep Hawaii's Heroes

Land and Power in Hawaii

Legislative Committee Analysis Tool

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

Malama Pregnancy Center of Maui

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Military Home Educators' Network Oahu

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Christian Foundation Hawaii

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

No GMO Means No Aloha

Not Dead Yet, Hawaii

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Oahu Alternative Transport

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

OurFutureHawaii.com

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

PEACE Hawaii

People vs Machine

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

P.U.E.O.

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

ReRoute the Rail

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

Robotics Organizing Committee

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Sink the Jones Act

Statehood for Guam

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

UCC Truths

US Tax Foundation Hawaii Info

VAREP Honolulu

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii

Yes2TMT