WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the New York Times reported that a White House official and former oil industry advocate has been doctoring government reports to downplay the scientific consensus that link anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and global climate change. Responding to this report of White House misinformation, Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA), a senior Democratic Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, made the following statement.

“This White House has set out on a dangerous path -- they would rather fudge the facts than face them.”

“When weapons inspectors raised considerable doubts about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, this Administration sidelined those inspectors and simply sought out other facts, editing evidence presented by intelligence officials. Now, when it has become clear that measures need to be taken immediately to curb the effects of global warming, the Administration refuses to accept reality and instead had White House staffers alter the words of scientists.

“The overwhelming scientific consensus is that global climate is real and its effects are already being observed: the Arctic is warming twice as fast as researchers predicted; the ten hottest years in recorded history have occurred in the last fourteen years; the oceans have already warmed so much that they have begun rising and will continue to rise for more than a century, even if we eliminated our greenhouse gas emissions today.”

According to the New York Times report, Philip A. Cooney, chief of staff for the White House Council on Environmental Quality made dozens of changes to reports on the correlation between greenhouse gas emissions and global climate change. In one instance, Cooney added the words "significant and fundamental" before the word "uncertainties," in and effort to raise doubts about the findings of studies that climate xperts say are solid.

For more information about Rep. Markey’s work to address the roll backs in protections for our environment check out: Work on Environment Issues