Judicial Watch is turning its attention to whether government scientists purposely manipulated global warming data.
The conservative watchdog group is suing the Department of Commerce for communications by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration regarding a study that has been investigated by Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. Judicial Watch has recently gained headlines for investigations in the Benghazi attack and the Fast and Furious firearms scandal.
Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit for the same documents sought by Smith related to a study that disproved the belief that there had been a pause in global warming during recent years. Smith had been seeking communications from NOAA employees in an attempt to find a political slant to the study.
Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, on Tuesday credited the lawsuit, filed Dec. 2, with prompting NOAA to release the documents to Smith, despite the ongoing negotiations between the committee and NOAA.
“The Obama administration seems to care not one whit for a congressional subpoena but knows from prior experience that a Judicial Watch [Freedom of Information Act] lawsuit cannot be ignored,” Fitton said. “Given the lawless refusal to comply with our FOIA request and a congressional subpoena, we have little doubt that the documents will show the Obama administration put politics before science to advance global warming alarmism.”
Judicial Watch sued the Department of Commerce because it denied a Freedom of Information Act request for the documents in October. The group sought all communications from NOAA employees and officials regarding the methodology of the study, how NOAA relays global temperature data to the public, how satellite readings are used in global temperature data sets and the subpoena itself.
Democrats, as well as many scientists, have pilloried Smith for seeking the scientists’ communications.
The study reported that the rate of global warming in the last 15 years has been as fast, if not faster than, the rate of global warming during the latter half of the 20th century.
As part of the study, researcher Thomas Karl used temperatures from 30,000 surface stations, as compared to the 7,000 stations used in older studies. The data also included temperatures from 2014, the hottest year on record.
Smith’s subpoena initially gained attention for seeking the emails of scientists connected to the study. NOAA and other science groups warned seeking communications among scientists could lead to a “chilling effect” on climate science.
Smith has subpoenaed NOAA employees to find communications that show a political slant, but NOAA resisted to the point that Smith agreed to back down on asking for scientists’ emails.
