Posted on 8 June 2019 by John Hartz

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White House Tried to Stop Climate Science Testimony, Documents Show

Rod Schoonover at a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Wednesday. Credit: Andrew Harnik/Associated Press

The White House tried to stop a State Department senior intelligence analyst from discussing climate science in congressional testimony this week, internal emails and documents show.

The State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research declined to make changes to the proposed testimony and the analyst, Rod Schoonover, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, was ultimately allowed to speak before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on Wednesday.

But in a highly unusual move, the White House refused to approve Dr. Schoonover’s written testimony for entry into the permanent Congressional Record. The reasoning, according to a June 4 email seen by The New York Times, was that the science did not match the Trump administration’s views. 

White House Tried to Stop Climate Science Testimony, Documents Show by Lisa Friedman, Climate, New York Times, June 8, 2019

Links posted on Facebook

Sun June 2 2019

• Feeling the Heat in Winter by Tim Lydon, Hakai Magazine, May 29, 2019
• New reef envoy Warren Entsch takes aim at 'coaching' of kids over climate change by Rosemary Bolger & Nick Baker, Australia, SBS News, May 29, 2019
• Gas Is a Loser and It's Time to Move On': Report Debunks Myth That Natural Gas Can Help Fight Climate Crisis by Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, May 30, 2019
• The 2019 Atlantic Hurricane Season Begins; 91L in Gulf of Mexico a Threat to Develop by Jeff Masters, Category 6, Weather Underground, June 1, 2019
• The continental US just had the wettest 12 months in the 124 years on record by Paul P Murphy & Judson Jones, CNN, May 30, 2019
• India heatwave temperatures pass 50 Celsius, AFP/France 24, June 1, 2019
• Q&A: Climate leader works to shape ‘environmental awakening’ in Virginia by Elizabeth McGowan, Energy News Network, May 29, 2019
• Reform needed to stop companies fighting climate rules - Nobel laureate Stiglitz, Interview by Sebastien Malo, Thomson Reuters Foundation, May 29, 2019

Mon June 3 2019

• National electricity market becoming riskier as stresses mount: report by Peter Hannam, Business, Sydney Morning Herald, June 3, 2019
• Rising seas threaten Australia’s major airports – and it may be happening faster than we think by Thomas Mortlock, Andrew Gissing, Ian Goodwin & Mingzhu Wang, The Conversation AU, May 28, 2019
• Kids suing the US over climate change are getting global support by Ephrat Livni, Young American, Quartz, June 1, 2019
• Is Climate Change Fueling Tornadoes? by Bob Berwyn, InsideClimate News, May 30, 2019
• India weather: Temperature passes 50C Celsius in northern India, News.com.au, June 3, 2019
• PM to challenge Trump's approach on climate by Pallab Ghosh, Science & Environment, BBC, June 3, 2019
• Is it our constitutional right to live in a world safe from climate change?, Opinion by Julia Rosen, Los Angeles Times, June 3, 2019
• 84 Environmental Rules on the Way Out Under Trump by Nadja Popovich, Livia Albeck-Ripka & Kendra Pierre-Louis, Climate, New York Times, June 3, 2019

Tue June 4 2019

• Gray whale deaths could reach record levels this year; NOAA opens investigation by Elizabeth Wiese, Nation, USA Today, May 31, 2019
• The decline of trust in science “terrifies” former MIT president Susan Hockfield by Eric Johnson, Recode Podcast, Vox, May 30, 2019
• Rebecca Solnit: 'Every protest shifts the world's balance' by Rebecca Solnit, Environment, Guardian, June 1, 2019
• Question of the Century: Do We Have a Right to a Livable Climate? by Valerie Brown, Climate Change, The Revelator, June 3, 2019
• Running Dry: Competing for water on a thirsty planet by Laurie Goering & Claudio Accheri, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Jun 3, 2019
• Corn That Won't Get Planted This Year Could Shatter All U.S. Records by Michael Hirtzer, Isis Almeida & Dominic Carey, Business, Bloomberg News, May 30, 2019
• Latest data shows steep rises in CO2 for seventh year by Fiona Harvey, Environment, Guardian, June 4, 2019
• The Energy 202: We asked every 2020 Democrat about climate change. Here are the most interesting answers. by Dino Grandoni, PowerPost, Washington Post, June 3, 2019

Wed June 5, 2019

• Strong Arctic High-Pressure System Bringing Significant Melting of Sea Ice by Jeff Masters, Category 6, Weather Underground,Jun 3, 2019
• Rising demand for air conditioning could make climate change even worse by Sarah Wesseler, Yale Climate Connections, June 3, 2019
• Companies See Climate Change Hitting Their Bottom Lines in the Next 5 Years by Brad Plumer, Climate, New York Times, June 4, 2019
• Donald Trump tells Prince Charles US has 'clean climate' by Matthew Weaver & Kate Lyons, Environment, Guardian, June 5, 2019
• Midwest flooding is drowning corn and soy crops. Is climate change to blame? by Sarah Gibbens, Environment, National Geographic, June 5, 2019
• Biden's Climate Plan Embraces Green New Deal, Goes Beyond Obama-Era Ambition by Marianne Lavelle & John H Cushman Jr. InsideClimate News, June 4, 2019
• Judges Give Both Sides a Grilling in Youth Climate Case Against the Government by John Schwartz, Climate, New York Times, June 4, 2019

• There is a Far More Urgent Reason to Impeach Trump: Climate Change, Opinion by Jonathan Granoff, Newsweek, June 4, 2019

Thu June 6, 2019

• On World Environment Day, signs of hope by Jamison Ervin, UN Development Program, June 5, 2019
• Satellite data shows Amazon deforestation rising under Brazil's Bolsonaro by Anthony Boadle & Lisandra Paraguassu, Reuters, June 4, 2019
• ‘It is horrid’: India roasts under heat wave with temperatures above 120 degrees by Joanna Slater, Asia & Pacific, Washington Post, June 5, 2019
• Flash Flood Threat Spreads Through Much of the South Through This Weekend, Weather Underground, June 6, 2019
• Climate change is seriously threatening human health by Isabelle Gerretsen, CNN, June 4, 2019
• Trump Lied to Prince Charles's Face—and to the World, Opinion by Michael E Mann, Newsweek, June 6, 2019
• Is it true climate change will cause the end of civilisation by 2050? by Adam Vaughn, Environment, New Scientist, June 6, 2019
• 'So much land under so much water': extreme flooding is drowning parts of the midwest by Chris McGreal, US News, Guardian, June 3, 2019

Fri June 7, 2019

• Can the Paris Climate Goals Save Lives? Yes, a Lot of Them, Researchers Say by Kendra Pierre-Louis, Climate, New York Times, June 5, 2019
• Finland pledges to become carbon neutral by 2035 by Jon Henley, World, Guardian, June 4, 2019
• The Great Insect Dying: A global look at a deepening crisis by Jeremy Hance, Mongabay, June 3, 2019
• On World Environment Day, everything you know about energy in the US might be wrong by Elizabeth Weise, USA Today, June 4, 2019
• The Great Lakes are overflowing with record amounts of water by Ian Livingston, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, June 6, 3029
• US schools accused of censoring climate crisis message in graduation speeches by Oliver Milman, Environment, Guardian, June 7, 2019
• 27 Women Leading the Charge to Protect Our Environment by Véronique Hyland, Naomi Rougeau & Julie Vadnal, Elle Magazine, June 6, 2019
• White House Climate Review Could Damage Careers, Scientists Warn by Scott Waldman, E&E News/Scientific American, June 7, 2019

Sat June 8, 2019

• Environmental groups push Dems to tank USMCA over climate change by Zoe Watkins, Politico, June 6, 2019
• Drought leaves 366,000 'one step away from famine' in Madagascar - U.N. by Nita Bhalla, Thomson Reuters Foundation, June 6, 2019
• Court: Climate Impacts of Pipeline Projects Cannot Be Ignored by Karen Savage, Climate Liability News, June 7, 2019
• What psychotherapy can do for the climate and biodiversity crises by Caroline Hickman, The Conversation UK, June 7, 2019
• White House Tried to Stop Climate Science Testimony, Documents Show by Lisa Friedman, Climate, New York Times, June 8, 2019
• Pompeo downplays climate change, suggests 'people move to different places' by Caroline Kelly & Michelle Kosinski, CNN, June 7, 2019
• Disappearing sea ice is changing the whole ecosystem of the Arctic Ocean by Graham J. C. Underwood, The Conversation UK, June 7, 2019
• US teen climate activist takes aim at textbooks - and presidential debates by Sebastien Malo, Thomson Reuters Foundation, June 7, 2019