US Govt accused of trying to muzzle climate scientist

NASA’s top climate scientist said the Bush administration has tried to stop him from speaking out since he gave a lecture in December 2005 calling for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases, The New York Times said.

Since 1988 he has warned publicly about the long-term threat from heat-trapping emissions, dominated by carbon dioxide, that are a by product of burning coal, oil and other fossil fuels, the newspaper said. It said he fell out of favour with the White House in 2004 after a University of Iowa speech ahead of the presidential election in which he complained that government climate scientists were being muzzled, adding that he planned to vote for Democratic nominee Senator John Kerry.

ABC