Arctic scientist who exposed climate threat to polar bear is suspended

[avaistheone1]

Source: Guardian

US government conducts 'integrity inquiry' on federal biologist amid lobbying by oil firms for Arctic permits


It was seen as one of the most distressing effects of climate change ever recorded: polar bears dying of exhaustion after being stranded between melting patches of Arctic sea ice.

But now the government scientist who first warned of the threat to polar bears in a warming Arctic has been suspended and his work put under official investigation for possible scientific misconduct.

Charles Monnett, a wildlife biologist, oversaw much of the scientific work for the government agency that has been examining drilling in the Arctic. He managed about $50m (£30.5m) in research projects.

Some question why Monnett, employed by the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, has been suspended at this moment. The Obama administration has been accused of hounding the scientist so it can open up the fragile region to drilling by Shell and other big oil companies.


Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/28/arctic-scientist-polar-bear-oil

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Whose watch is this occuring on?

[Larkspur]

1. And then Obama wonders why the Democratic base isn't excited by his re-election

I'll hold my nose and vote for him in 2012 only because the Supreme Court is at stake, but actions like this piss me off about Obama and make me wonder why he bothered to be a Democrat. I honestly don't know what Democratic principles he stands for. I know he stands for supporting his Big Donors, but that's not unique to Democrats.

[Wilms]

5. .

[newfie11]

6. Same here n/t

[BadtotheboneBob]

7. Pri-mary! Pri-mary! Pri-mary!

Run, Bernie, Run!... Run, Bernie, Run!... Everybody, now! Run, Bernie, Run!

[Fearless]

2. So.... Obama... we need to talk... about this compromise stuff... polar bears didn't get the memo...

You might want to get on that. Telling them to be good obedient Democrats is surely what is best for this country. Just let them know that we traded the ice to compromise with seals who are tired of getting eaten by the polar bears.

[saras]

3. This happens WAY too often for a Democratic administration...

Whistle-blowing, (aka the reporting of crime or human-caused disasters, to the appropriate authorities), seems to be in the process of being outlawed.

It just seems obvious to me that whistle-blowers should be getting special protection until the situation they reported on can be investigated. Exactly the opposite seems to be the case.

[No Elephants]

4. The most transparent administration ever!

[trud]

8. Report on Dead Polar Bears Gets a Biologist Suspended

Source: New York Times

"The federal government has suspended a wildlife biologist whose sightings of dead polar bears in Arctic waters became a rallying point for campaigners seeking to blunt the impact of global warming...

...

The polar bear report had been approved by Dr. Monnett’s superiors at the bureau, which until last year was called the Minerals Management Service. But the approval was short-lived. In the interview transcript, Dr. Monnett is quoted as saying that “we got blasted, you know, really hard, by the agency” after the reports of the drowned bears circulated.

At another point, he said of his superiors, “They don’t want any impediment to, you know, what they view as their mission, which is to, you know, drill wells up there” and “put areas into production.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/science/earth/29polar.html

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At the beginning, it reads like he was removed for cooking data. By the time you read through to the end, it looks like he was removed for reporting correct data. The management of Minerals Management Service, those folks who helped bring you the Gulf oil spill, keep up their fine work.

[arenean]

9. And from The Guardian......

And here's what The Guardian says.....



Arctic scientist who exposed climate threat to polar bear is suspended

[ananda]

10. This is terrible.

Just so so wrong . . . .

But I guess Shell is happy and all those politicians and officials
in Shell's pocket.

[OwnedByFerrets]

11. WTG motherfuckers.

[panzerfaust]

12. Thank God Obama is President

And that the silencing of scientists who do not toe the corporate line is a thing of the past.

[bread_and_roses]

13. Right - so much CHANGE!

I have no words.

[Igel]

19. That is what it sounds like.

Sort of.

From what little's there, there are suspicions that a calculation was wrong (probably the basis for his assumptions is questioned by somebody) and that he relied on a report by Treacy that Treacy defends.

I'd hate to do the reseach. Take this comment by Treacy: "We recorded all the polar bears we saw. If there were dead ones, we would have noted that as such." There's a shift in vantage point between the sentences: I believe that he remembers seeing no dead polar bears. On the other hand, he might have missed them (polar-bear-under-snow), he might have misunderstood them (permanently-asleep polar bear), or they might have vanished (inside-other-creature polar bear). There's no word on how big the sample (3 polar bears in 16 sq kilometers).

In other words, the story is the outrage. He's being investigated--and will probably be found to have been acting within the confines of what's acceptable. On the other hand, he also sounds defensive and antagonistic to the agency responsible for drilling leases: Perhaps it's new, suddenly having your integrity affronted can do that; on the other hand, it might be of long standing and there's simply no way to determine it from the article. Not that it matters--ardent foes or advocates can still treat the data fairly (even if they still have incomplete data).

[trud]

20. I think not

Let's remember who's involved here - a scientist on the one hand, with no reason to think there's anything wrong with his data, and the Minerals Management Service with their spectacularly biased record on the other.

[Doctor_J]

14. Holy crap. This is right out of Bush's playbook

WTF has happened to the guy I campaigned for?

[Uncle Joe]

15. This is disgraceful, Galileo threatened Big Religion and Monnett threatened Big Oil and the

Obama Administration morphed into the Bush Administration.:puke:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/28/arctic-scientist-polar-bear-oil

A spokeswoman for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement (Boemre) said the government would continue to carry out research on the potential impacts of Arctic drilling, despite Monnett's suspension.

"All of the scientific contracts previously managed by Mr Monnett are being managed by the highly qualified scientists at Boemre," Melissa Schwartz said in an email. She noted that the investigation was being overseen by the inspector general, which is independent, and that it was being conducted according to the Obama administration's new guidelines on scientific integrity.

However, Peer argues the exercise is intended to discredit Monnett's brief paper on the polar bear.

Other organisations also accused the government agency of a long record of meddling in science. A 2009 report by the Government Accountability Office found huge gaps in Boemre's research on the impacts of drilling in the Arctic. And the Alaska Wilderness League stated: "Alaska Boemre has continued to ignore science and traditional knowledge in its decision-making about oil and gas development."

Thanks for the thread, avaistheone1.

[and-justice-for-all]

16. Oil companies are out of control...

all natural resources need to be nationalized.

[buckrogers1965]

17. 4 more years of Obama

is just like having Bush in Office for another 4 years. Isn't 12 years enough?

[goforit]

18. I refuse to vote for him. Patronage to Oil is the lowest low.

[Morizovich]

21. That old Egyptian River strikes again!

:argh: