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New report details government actions that undermine research into the science of climate change
OTTAWA (March 22, 2010) - A new report from the Climate Action Network Canada- Réseau action climat Canada details a “troubling catalogue of actions” by the federal government to muzzle its own climate scientists and weaken the research capacity of Canada’s climate science community.
Released just days after a federal budget that effectively slashed funding for university-based climate science by failing to renew the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences, the report documents a disturbing pattern of federal actions that undermine the scientific research that must underpin responsible federal climate change policy.
“While the government’s inaction on climate change is well-known, this report uncovers new evidence of Environment Canada’s successful efforts to restrict media access to its own scientists, effectively burying the truth,” says Graham Saul, Executive Director of Climate Action Network Canada. “It has become virtually impossible to believe this government when they claim to support the science of climate change, because they’re behaving more like a group of climate skeptics that is simply looking for excuses not to act.”
The report examines the need for Canadian research on climate science and investigates status of federal funding for university-based climate science research. The report also documents a series of actions by the present federal government that undermine Canadian climate science research and its practitioners.
“The Harper government says that they accept the overwhelming scientific evidence for climate change, but behind closed doors they are systematically shutting their own scientists down,” says Andrew Cuddy, the author of the report. “Unless the government takes urgent action to reverse this trend, it will only re-enforce Canada’s reputation as the country doing the least to address climate change in the industrialized world.”
“A government that takes climate change seriously will follow the recommendations contained in this report, and ensure full transparency in doing so,” says Matthew Bramley, the director of the Pembina Institute’s climate change program and a reviewer of the report. “The report calls for decent funding for climate research in universities and better coordination of the research conducted within government departments — two things that the Harper government must do if it is serious about following the approach President Obama has taken in the United States.”
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