Atmosphere of Pressure political Interference in Federal Climate science

The report documents widespread political interference in U.S. federal climate science, characterized by the manipulation of scientific findings, restrictive media policies, and declining funding. Through surveys and interviews, the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Government Accountability Project found that scientists frequently faced pressure to alter their results or eliminate terms like 'global warming' to align with political goals, leading to poor morale and diminished scientific integrity.

• A significant proportion of federal climate scientists reported experiencing or perceiving political interference over a five-year period, including pressure to remove specific terminology from communications.
• Political interference is more prevalent among scientists whose research focuses on sensitive or controversial topics.
• Federal agencies have implemented restrictive media policies that allow public affairs officers to act as gatekeepers, often barring scientists from speaking to the media or routing inquiries to scientists with views that align with administration policy.
• There is evidence of political appointees editing scientific reports and congressional communications to inflate uncertainty and downplay scientific consensus.
• Funding for federal climate science research has declined since the mid-1990s when adjusted for inflation, specifically impacting NASA's Earth observation satellite programs.
• Morale among federal climate scientists is generally poor, with a strong correlation between low job satisfaction and the politicized research environment.
• Scientists at the non-federal National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) reported significantly lower levels of political interference and higher morale than their federal counterparts.
• NASA's 2006 scientific openness policy was viewed positively by many of its scientists as a step toward improving the research environment, though it remains imperfect.

APA

Donaghy, T., freeman, J., Grifo, F., Kaufman, K., Maassarani, T., & Shultz, L. (2007). Atmosphere of Pressure political Interference in Federal Climate science. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/scientific_integrity/atmosphere-of-pressure.pdf

Chicago

Donaghy, Timothy, Jennifer freeman, francesca Grifo, Karly Kaufman, Tarek Maassarani, and Lexi Shultz. Atmosphere of Pressure political Interference in Federal Climate science. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2007. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/scientific_integrity/atmosphere-of-pressure.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Donaghy |first1=Timothy |last2=freeman |first2=Jennifer |last3=Grifo |first3=francesca |last4=Kaufman |first4=Karly |last5=Maassarani |first5=Tarek |last6=Shultz |first6=Lexi |title=Atmosphere of Pressure political Interference in Federal Climate science |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=February 2007 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/scientific_integrity/atmosphere-of-pressure.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{donaghy2007atmosphere, author = {Donaghy, Timothy and freeman, Jennifer and Grifo, francesca and Kaufman, Karly and Maassarani, Tarek and Shultz, Lexi}, title = {{Atmosphere of Pressure political Interference in Federal Climate science}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2007}, month = feb, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/scientific_integrity/atmosphere-of-pressure.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }