White House Press Secretary Fumbles on Climate Science Censorship Report

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If you’re going to lie, at least be honest aboutย it.

During today’s press briefing White House press secretary, Dana Perino, spun herself into a knot with her own bafflegab in response to a Congress Committee investigative report releasedย today.

The report, submitted by Oversight Committee chair, Henry A Waxman outlines a โ€œโ€ฆsystematic effort to manipulate climate change science and mislead policymakers and the public about the dangers of globalย warming.โ€

Press Secretary Perino brushed off the report stating that the claims wereย โ€œuntrue.โ€

Of course, Perino’s denial would have been a little more convincing if she had first not admitted that she hadn’t even read the report. At the outset of questioning Perino stated that, โ€œ[she’d] seen reports about the report, and [she] hasn’t seen the Minorityย reportโ€ฆโ€

Here’s a transcript of the exchange withย reporters:

Q The House Oversight Committee has come out with its bipartisan investigation โ€“ several months in the making โ€“ saying it is inescapable to conclude that the Bush administration engaged in a systematic effort to manipulate the climate change science and mislead the policymakers and the public about the dangers of global warming. Have you seen the report and can thatย โ€“

MS. PERINO: I’ve seen reports about the report, and I haven’t seen the Minority report in terms of โ€“ when you say it’s bipartisan, I would challenge that and encourage people to look at the Minority report. I think that it’s inescapable that they issued this report on a day when they knew that the United States would be represented at the Bali conference, where we are currently talking about the next step for a framework after 2012, which is when Kyoto wouldย end.

And the President started leading on that back many years ago, but especially if you point โ€“ look to one thing that was really key this year in the climate change debate is the President bringing together the meeting of the major economies on September 30th, here at the State Department, where he had the major economies of the world come together and all agreed that they should work forward, because we understand the urgent challenge that is posed by climate change. And I would submit to you, having worked on these issues for a long time, that it’s rehashed rhetoric that has come out of the Democrats beforehand, and we just reject it as beingย untrue.

Q Do you think โ€“ you don’t think it was released today because the United States is accepting a Nobel Peace Prize for work on climateย change?

MS. PERINO: Well, I guess โ€“ I didn’t even know today’s Nobel Peace Prize was going to happen, in terms of those awards. But clearly, we’ve been in Bali for the last week, and today is really important โ€“ the next three days in Bali are very important because it’s at the foreign minister level, or environmental ministerย level.

Q Did the White House ever asked employees at agencies like NOAA to suppress climate change information andย science?

MS. PERINO: Not that I’m aware and I do not believe that isย true.

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Kevin is a contributor and strategic adviser to DeSmog. He runs the digital marketing agency Spake Media House. Named a โ€œGreen Heroโ€ by Rolling Stone Magazine and one of the โ€œTop 50 Tweetersโ€ on climate change and environment issues, Kevin has appeared in major news media outlets around the world for his work on digital campaigning. Kevin has been involved in the public policy arena in both the United States and Canada for more than a decade. For five years he was the managing editor of DeSmogBlog.com. In this role, Kevinโ€™s research into the โ€œclimate denial industryโ€ and the right-wing think tank networks was featured in news media articles around the world. He is most well known for his ground-breaking research into David and Charles Kochโ€™s massive financial investments in the Republican and tea partyย networks. Kevin is the first person to be designated a โ€œCertified Expertโ€ on theย political and community organizing platformย NationBuilder. Prior to DeSmog, Kevin worked in various political and government roles. He was Senior Advisor to the Minister of State for Multiculturalism and a Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Asia Pacific, Foreign Affairs for the Government of Canada. Kevin also worked in various roles in the British Columbia provincial government in the Office of the Premier and the Ministry of Health. In 2008 Kevin co-founded a groundbreaking new online election tool called Vote for Environment which was later nominated for a World Summit Award in recognition of the worldโ€™s best e-Content and innovative ICTย applications. Kevin moved to Washington, DC in 2010 where he worked for two years as the Director of Online Strategy for Greenpeace USA and has since returned to his hometown of Vancouver, Canada.

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