Washington doing damage control on global warming

I just got a call from an official with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) about our post earlier today on how global warming research is being politicized.

Specifically, she wanted to correct our claim that Chuck Fuqua was a press officer for NOAA when he muzzled an agency scientist in 2005 who supported the link between human activity and global warming.

She's right, and I appreciate her call -- although one could also call it a technicality. Chuck Fuqua actually works in the communications division for the Department of Commerce. But NOAA is part of Commerce, which is why Fuqua was allowed to vet which scientists have media time.

What's more interesting is how closely federal officials are monitoring the political fallout of Rep. Henry Waxman's revelations this week about Fuqua's heavy-handed attempts to squelch the scientific consensus about global warming.