White House Censors Global Warming/Public Health Testimony, Democrats Respond

Public health and environmental experts are up in arms over the
White House's editing of Congressional testimony about the potential
public health effects of global warming. Dr. Julie Gerberding, the
director of the Centers for Disease Control, submitted testimony to
Congress on Tuesday. ABC News is reporting, the original transcript of
the testimony is 14 pages long – but the White House Office of
Management and Budget edited and released a version that was only six
pages long.

Comparing the original and edited versions, it appears the White
House deleted any section that said climate change was a public health
concern. These include increases in air pollution, extreme weather, and
an enhanced risk of water and food-borne illnesses.

Officials at the Centers for Disease Control are denying they are
being censored. The White House press secretary says the testimony went
through the normal review process, and that the deletions were made at
the behest of John Marburger, head of the White House Office of Science
and Technology. He maintains the information was deleted because it did
not align with findings made by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change, or IPCC.

Senator Barbara Boxer, a democrat from California, denounces
Marburger's reasoning. She released a statement saying his claim "is a
lame defense of the White House action to censor information the
American people deserve to know about the dangers of global warming."

The IPCC report actually has an entire chapter dedicated to the
human health impacts of climate change – covering many of the same
issues censored by the White House.