Fourteen U.S. senators are calling for an investigation into allegations that the Bush administration has repeatedly tried to silence scientists, by preventing them from publishing research or speaking out about the dangers of global warming.

_{Photo courtesy of Kevin Connors}

Also Read:
What is the Greenhouse Effect?
Should the United States Ratify the Kyoto Protocol?
10 Ways You Can Reduce Global Warming

The senators—13 Democrats and Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont, the Senate’s only Independent—sent a letter on Friday to the inspectors general of NASA and the U.S. Commerce Department, which oversees the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In the letters, the 14 senators asked for an official investigation.

"These activities do a disservice to the American public and are delaying a rational and comprehensive response to the very grave and real threat of global warming," the letter said. "In light of these and other troubling reports, we respectfully request that your office conduct a full and thorough investigation into the suppression of science and censorship of scientists at these government agencies."

Senators Cite Several Attempts to Gag or Censor Scientists
The senators sent the letters following a report published last week by the journal "Nature" that alleged the Bush administration had blocked publication of federal research by NOAA scientists that linked global warming to the increasing frequency and intensity of hurricanes. But the letters also cite other instances of alleged attempts by the Bush administration to silence scientists about their global warming research. For example:

• NOAA scientist Tom Knutson was prevented from speaking to reporters in 2005 because he has published research that links global warming to hurricane intensity, a position that doesn’t mesh with the views of the administration. Copies of email messages, released last week by U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman of California and reported by Salon, show that political appointees at NOAA declined a request by CNBC for an interview with Knutson.

• NASA scientist and climate-change expert James Hansen was prevented by political appointees at NASA from speaking to the media after he gave a lecture about the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to slow global warming.

• An April 2006 Washington Post article that quoted NOAA scientists, who said government officials had removed references to global warming from their reports, news releases and Web sites.

The Bush administration denies the allegations, but the charges by scientists continue to surface and the administration is under increasing pressure for its alleged efforts to interfere with free discussion of scientific research.

Pressure and Evidence Increase on White House Efforts to Revise Research
In September, the House Government Reform Committee asked the White House to release several documents showing that it has revised climate change reports and news releases to match the administration’s political ideology before they were made public.

"We strongly believe that research paid for with taxpayer funds should be published, disseminated and debated, rather than suppressed because it does not support the stated positions of the administration," the letter said. "Unfortunately, this recent incident seems to be only the latest in a growing list of actions taken by this administration to conceal legitimate and scientifically sound findings that do not fit the President's stated ideological preferences."

Senate Democrats who signed the letter include:

• Maria Cantwell, Washington
• Frank Lautenberg, New Jersey
• Harry Reid, Nevada
• Tom Carper, Delaware
• Joe Lieberman, Connecticut
• John Kerry, Massachusetts
• Robert Menendez, New Jersey
• Barbara Boxer, California
• Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico
• Hillary Rodham Clinton, New York
• Richard Durbin, Illinois
• Dianne Feinstein, California
• Barbara Mikulski, Maryland