Did NASA suppress climate-change info? Yes and no

I would not have been at all surprised to find that the Bush administration tried to suppress NASA scientists who were writing about climate change. They have a long and storied history of being vehemently anti-science. But the official NASA report on the issue is a bit more complicated.

From the executive summary:

Our investigation found that during the fall of 2004 through early 2006, the NASA Headquarters Office of Public Affairs managed the topic of climate change in a manner that reduced, marginalized, or mischaracterized climate change science made available to the general public through those particular media over which the Office of Public Affairs had control (i.e., news releases and media access).

A-ha! you say — just as I thought! (In fact, that was exactly what I thought as I read that.) But then you go a bit further:

We also concluded that the climate change editorial decisions were localized within the NASA Headquarters Office of Public Affairs; we found no credible evidence suggesting that senior NASA or Administration officials directed the NASA Headquarters Office of Public Affairs to minimize information relating to climate change.

So that’s a little better. Whether the OPA officials tried to suppress that information because it went against their personal views, or because they thought they were doing the administration a favor, or because they thought it helped their career paths… well, we may never know.

I hope, though, that the people who did that aren’t able to work in any kind of science-related field. Maybe the yokels at the creationism museum are hiring.