Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said he was "encouraged by NOAA’s acknowledgment of its obligation to produce documents and communications in response to the committee’s lawfully-issued subpoena." Drew Angerer / AP file photo
NOAA Forks Over Some Climate Change Documents
House chairman welcomes communications memos that agency says are unremarkable.
In the latest wrinkle in the battle over climate change between a House overseer and a federal agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday delivered some internal communications documents demanded by the lawmaker that are related to a controversial scientific study of global temperature change.
That was good news for Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, the chairman of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee who in October issued subpoenas for NOAA’s internal memos from climatologists but later agreed to settle for the public affairs department’s memos – for now.
“I am encouraged by NOAA’s acknowledgment of its obligation to produce documents and communications in response to the committee’s lawfully-issued subpoena,” Smith said. “I am also glad to see that NOAA has committed to produce additional items as they are identified. We will carefully review these documents and expect additional productions from NOAA.”
Smith has continually asserted that scientists preparing the study published in June manipulated it and timed it to justify President Obama’s Clean Power regulations. Hundreds of scientists around the country have denounced Smith’s demands as an infringement on the scientific method.
NOAA spokesperson Ciaran Clayton said in a statement: “There is nothing in these materials that would support the notion that substance or timing of the paper was politically motivated…. The documents include discussions that show NOAA front office staff was aware that the study was particularly noteworthy and would likely be the focus of scrutiny and debate.” “
She also stressed that NOAA over the past few months has given the committee the “data, information, methodologies, and underlying science -- all of which is publicly available -- behind the study. Science at NOAA is conducted independently and rigorously, and is protected by a robust scientific integrity policy.”
In its cover letter to the committee, NOAA said it is “continuing to search for additional documents that may be responsive to this request.”