Federal Chemist Caught Altering Climate Data, Gets Award And 2 Years Severance Pay

So much for the purity of science.

It was first revealed in a June 2016 report from the inspector general of the Department of the Interior that at least two scientists in a recently closed U.S. Geological Survey laboratory in Colorado had been caught manipulating data, potentially tainting research for the past two decades, though the purpose and effect of that manipulation remained unclear.

Congress has since dug into the issue, culminating in a hearing being held Dec. 2 by the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations to get to the bottom of what had happened and what had been done to rectify the situation.

It was discovered that an unnamed scientist at the lab had routinely manipulated roughly a quarter to a third of the data obtained from a mass spectrometer from 1996 until 2008. It was also revealed that a separate scientist, perhaps picking up where the first left off, also manipulated data on a routine basis from 2008 until 2014.

Aside from the unbelievable revelation that the lab had no formal quality assurance or control protocols or standard operating procedures set up to govern its work, it was also revealed that the scientists believed responsible for the manipulation were never actually held accountable for their actions.

Indeed, The Daily Caller has reported that the USGS refused to comment on what, if any, actions had been taken against either of the scientists.

In fact, it was believed that the second scientist was even given an award and paid for an additional two years of service following the discovery of the data manipulation in 2014.

As for any punishments for those two scientists, the only thing USGS spokeswoman A.B. Wade would reveal was that “(d)isciplinary actions were being pursued,” and that “(n)either are now employed by the federal government.”

That topic was addressed by Georgia Rep. Jody Hice while questioning USGS Deputy Director William Werkheiser, but Werkheiser was less than cooperative in answering the many questions posed to him.

“We — taxpayers — were paying for a guy who manipulated data to justify why he manipulated data. Is that what you’re telling me?” Hice asked Werkheiser. “That sounds to me like it could be done through interrogation rather than giving him two years on the payroll. It sounds to me like a brief slap on the wrist and he continues on the payroll until he’s ready to retire, after he receives an award.”

That is indeed what it looks like, and the fact that the manipulation went on for nearly two decades was also quite troubling, leading one to question whether the manipulation of climate data was not isolated to just the two anonymous scientists.

Werkheiser did state that he was “appalled” by the manipulation, and though the USGS has yet to fulfill all of the requests for information sent to them by the House committee, hopefully the full truth of the matter will eventually be exposed.

http://conservativetribune.com/scientist-altering-climate-data/