Isle scientists fear politics is intruding on climate research

Is the Trump administration applying undue political influence on scientific research?

Some Hawaii scientists are convinced that it is, and that’s why they support efforts by 15 U.S. Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, to investigate political meddling into scientific research or communications at the Department of the Interior.

“It’s for real,” said Robert Richmond, director of the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Kewalo Marine Laboratory. “A number of my (federal) colleagues say interference is a persistent concern under this administration.”

Hirono and her colleagues sent a letter to Interior Department Inspector General Mary Kendall this month asking for an investigation. The request follows reports of pressure by officials of the Trump administration earlier this year to edit out any mention of human-induced climate change from a National Park Service report on sea-level rise.

What’s more, the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists surveyed scientists working across federal agencies, including those working within the Interior Department, and found a significant percentage of them are concerned about the influence of political appointees on their work.

In June, Hirono was among a group of Senate Democrats that accused the Interior Department of delaying key grants while the agency conducted what the senators claimed was a politically motivated review of its grant-making. In a letter sent to the department then, the senators expressed concern over potential undue influence from a high-level political appointee given authority over the grant- review process.

Much of the concern centers around the Trump administration’s view on climate science, with the commander in chief himself openly expressing skepticism.

“I’m not a big believer in man-made climate change,” he told the Miami Herald during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Almost immediately after Trump’s inauguration, the Environmental Protection Agency and Departments of Interior and Energy eliminated sections of their websites that discussed the science and impacts of climate change.

Then in 2017, Trump announced his intention to remove the United States from the Paris accord dealing with climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, and began pushing for coal and fossil fuel exploration. Among other things, he rescinded the 2013 Climate Action Plan and the Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience, a group President Barack Obama created to prepare the U.S. for the impacts of climate change.

Richmond, the UH professor and coral reef expert, said he saw undue political influence during the George W. Bush administration but it was nowhere near the level experienced over the last couple of years.

“I’ve never seen such blatant disregard in any area as in climate science,” he said.

Richmond said that while most scientists have been able to conduct good science in Hawaii, the biggest concern is how their research and findings are being handled by their bosses in Washington, D.C.

“The U.S. government employs some the best scientists in the world on these issues, yet their politically appointed administrators, who often lack relevant training, ignore the key findings and recommendations of their experts. This is no way to run a business or a country,” he said.

David Karl, director of UH’s Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education, said he believes there is meddling in scientific activities and he supports Hirono’s effort to get to the bottom of it.

“I do think this is very dangerous,” Karl said.

The Department of Interior did not respond to a Honolulu Star-Advertiser request for comment on the senators’ letter.

An analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists shows the Trump administration’s sidelining of scientific advice is widespread and occurring at unprecedented levels through stalling and disbanding scientific advisory committees, canceled meetings and dismissed experts.

“The consequences for the health and safety of millions of Americans could be profound,” the report said.

The New York Times reported Oct. 11 on the latest scientific panel put on the chopping block: a 20-member EPA committee that advises the agency’s leaders on the latest scientific information about air pollution.

UH scientists Chip Fletcher and Neil Frazer ran into what they believe was Department of Interior meddling last year when a line explaining how climate change causes sea-level rise was removed from a U.S. Geological Survey news release announcing their study on coastal flooding. The study was funded by USGS, the Interior Department’s science agency.

The deleted line read: “Global climate change drives sea-level rise, increasing the frequency of coastal flooding.”

“It’s a crime against the American people,” Frazer, a geophysics professor, told the Washington Post in May 2017, “because scientists have known for at least 50 years that anthropogenic climate change is a reality.”

Fletcher, a UH professor and study co-author, told the newspaper he disagreed with the decision from the upper administration to remove it, not with the scientists who deleted it at the administration’s request.

A USGS press officer told the Washington Post the deleted line “didn’t add anything to the overall findings.” The line wasn’t needed in the news release, she said, because climate change-driven sea level rise is not a new finding.

Frazer told the Star-Advertiser the most insidious form of governmental interference is not so obvious: the nonfunding of important research programs.

“By comparison, the deletion of a line from a press release is childish but understandable,” Frazer said in an email. “The USGS does good work on the consequences of sea-level rise and it has a reasonable fear that its work will be curtailed by budget cuts if it mentions the causes of sea-level rise.

“Given our present political situation, the USGS seems to me to be doing the best it can.”

An effort to reach out to a handful of Department of Interior employees in Hawaii didn’t reap any examples of undue political influence. They told the Star-Advertiser they were either unaware of the problem or it wasn’t happening.

But state Rep. Chris Lee (D, Kailua-Lanikai-­Waimanalo), chairman of the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee, said at least two federal employees complained to him about meddling.

“It’s safe to say the administration has been ignoring science and reining in scientists and experts or issues, and letting their special-­interest appointees and the companies tied to them dictate policy to the detriment of the environment, our community and the nation,” he said.