Political Interference in Federal Climate Science

The document provides raw survey data from 29 NCAR climate scientists. The results show that while respondents generally view NCAR's internal scientific integrity and leadership positively, they express significant concern over the decline of the U.S. federal government's climate science environment over the last decade.

• A majority of surveyed NCAR scientists perceive the environment for U.S. federal government climate science to have deteriorated over time, with 66% stating it is worse than 10 years ago and 59% stating it is worse than 5 years ago.
• Respondents generally hold a positive view of the scientific integrity and leadership at NCAR, with 86% agreeing or strongly agreeing that NCAR's leadership expects a high level of integrity and professionalism, and 86% agreeing or strongly agreeing that management supports staff who take scientifically defensible but politically controversial positions.
• While most respondents reported no personal experience with political interference, some perceived such activities in others. Specifically, 28% perceived pressure to eliminate terms like "climate change" or "global warming," and 14% perceived requests to present opposing views for "balance" even when not scientifically credible.
• The surveyed scientists expressed high confidence in the quality and impartiality of U.S. federal government climate research, with 93% agreeing or strongly agreeing that the quality is generally excellent and 79% agreeing or strongly agreeing that it is independent and impartial.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2006). Political Interference in Federal Climate Science. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/full-ncar-survey-inst-with-responses.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. Political Interference in Federal Climate Science. 2006. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/full-ncar-survey-inst-with-responses.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=Political Interference in Federal Climate Science |date=2006 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/full-ncar-survey-inst-with-responses.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2006political, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{Political Interference in Federal Climate Science}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2006}, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/full-ncar-survey-inst-with-responses.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }