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Home > News > 2010 > News Release
New report
details government actions that undermine research into the science of climate
change
For Immediate Release
March
15, 2010 OTTAWA - A new report from the Climate Action Network Canada- Réseau action climat Canada details a
“troubling catalogue of actions” by the federal government to muzzle its own
climate scientists and weaken the research capacity of Canada’s climate science
community.
Released
just days after a federal budget that effectively slashed funding for
university-based climate science by failing to renew the Canadian Foundation
for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences, the report documents a disturbing pattern
of federal actions that undermine the scientific research that must underpin responsible
federal climate change policy.
“While
the government’s inaction on climate change is well-known, this report uncovers
new evidence of Environment Canada’s successful efforts to restrict media
access to its own scientists, effectively burying the truth,” says Graham Saul,
Executive Director of Climate Action Network Canada. “It has become virtually
impossible to believe this government when they claim to support the science of
climate change, because they’re behaving more like a group of climate skeptics
that is simply looking for excuses not to act.”
The
report examines the need for Canadian research on climate science and
investigates status of federal funding for university-based climate science
research. The report also documents a series of actions by the present federal
government that undermine Canadian climate science research and its
practitioners.
“The
Harper government says that they accept the overwhelming scientific evidence
for climate change, but behind closed doors they are systematically shutting
their own scientists down,” says Andrew Cuddy, the author of the report.
“Unless the government takes urgent action to reverse this trend, it will only
reinforce Canada’s reputation as the country doing the least to address
climate change in the industrialized world.”
“A
government that takes climate change seriously will follow the recommendations
contained in this report, and ensure full transparency in doing so,” says
Matthew Bramley, the director of the Pembina Institute’s climate change program
and a reviewer of the report. “The report calls for decent funding for climate
research in universities and better coordination of the research conducted
within government departments — two things that the Harper government must do
if it is serious about following the approach President Obama has taken in the
United States.”
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Report: Troubling Evidence: The Harper Government’s Approach to Climate Science Research in Canada For more information, contact:
Graham
Saul, Climate Action Network
613-558-3368
Andrew
Cuddy, Research Intern (Climate Action Network)
514-962-4255
Matthew
Bramley, Pembina Institute
819-210-6115
For further media inquires please contact:
Hannah
McKinnon
613-276-7791
Troubling_Evidence_-_Climate_Action_Network_Canada_-_March_15.pdf
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