Congress begins investigating NOAA's global warming temperature data manipulation; agency refuses to hand over requested data

(NaturalNews) The chairman of a House committee on science has issued subpoenas to the Obama administration seeking more information about a recent scientific study refuting claims that global warming had entered a "pause" or had otherwise slowed down for nearly two decades now.

As cited by Climate Depot, a web site that publishes information refuting claims that so-called global warming/climate change is "settled science," noted that Rep. Lamar Alexander, R-Texas, the chair of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, issued the subpoenas in mid-October.

The panel is demanding that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hand over emails and records from U.S. scientists who participated in the study. The counterclaim undercuts a long-documented argument from climate change realists that man-made warming of the planet is not occurring, despite claims to the contrary by the administration and most liberal-led governments around the world.

Smith has long been skeptical of the so-called "science" that claims to have "proven" man-caused global warming is real.

As reported by The Washington Post:

Smith's document request to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ordered the agency to turn over scientific data as well as internal "communications between or among employees" involved in the study, according to a letter ... by the House committee's ranking Democrat, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (Tex.). Johnson accused Smith of "furthering a fishing expedition" by looking for ways to discredit NOAA's study, which was published in June in the peer-reviewed journal Science.

NOAA says NO

In response to Johnson's letter, Smith said the subpoena was not "harassment" but rather "appropriate congressional oversight."

"This scandal-ridden administration's lack of openness is the real problem," Smith said in a statement released by his office. "Congress cannot do its job when agencies openly defy Congress and refuse to turn over information. When an agency decides to alter the way it has analyzed historical temperature data for the past few decades, it's crucial to understand on what basis those decisions were made."

On that note, Climate Depot noted that officials at NOAA are refusing to comply with the House panel's subpoena. As reported by The Hill, the agency is citing confidentiality concerns among scientists, even though their work is performed on behalf of the American people and they are paid with tax dollars.

NOAA spokeswoman Ciaran Clayton told reporters that the internal communications are confidential and not related to what Smith is trying to find out.

"We have provided data, all of which is publicly available online, supporting scientific research, and multiple in-person briefings," she said.

"We stand behind our scientists who conduct their work in an objective manner. It is the end product of exchanges between scientists — the detailed publication of scientific work and the data that underpins the authors' findings — that are key to understanding the conclusions reached," she said.

People have a right to know what kind of science they're buying

The NOAA report refutes years of other scientific findings that indicate two things: 1) Global temperatures are not rising as a global pattern; and 2) Arctic ice, which global warming alarmists have long used to justify their discredited models, is actually expanding, as Natural News editor Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, reported in 2013:

For years, we've all heard that global warming is threatening our planet. But now, in a stunning turnaround, world scientists are warning that an era of global cooling seems to be upon us, complete with extraordinary expansions of ocean ice being recorded in just the past year.

What makes the NOAA refusal even more noteworthy is the fact that the federal bureaucracy is controlled by the Executive branch. Obama has long claimed that the "debate about climate change is over" because it's "settled science" and there is no more need to question it (here, here and here).

The lesson for this administration is that if you want to keep your taxpayer-funded government job, echo what the boss says and wants and you'll be fine. Obama, of course, is not the only president to ever expect that kind of policy conformity from his underlings, but to think that he doesn't is naive and incorrect.

The people, via their elected representatives, have a right to know just what kind of "science" their money is buying.

Sources include:

ClimateDepot.com

TheGWPF.com

TheHill.com

NaturalNews.com

IO9.com

YouTube.com