Credibility gap

From polar bears to public health, government scientists’ views keep running into political Wite-Out at the White House.

The latest example in a stunning array of them came last week when the Associated Press reported that the White House made significant edits in testimony about the impact of climate change on public health. Deleted sections, which the AP said covered more than half of the original text, included a list of specifics in which “climate change is likely to have a significant impact on health.”


They included the effect of more frequent hot weather on vulnerable populations, the impact of extreme weather, more air pollution in drought-stricken areas and the greater likelihood of vector-borne and water-borne diseases.

Whose written Senate testimony was pounded into this political Pablum? None other than Dr. Julie L. Gerberding, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Gone were the words about how climate change would pose “difficult challenges” and its status as “a serious public health concern.” Left were the words about how climate change is anticipated to have “a broad range of impacts” on Americans’ health and the public health system.

Sacramento Bee