A federal inspector general has dismissed an effort by conservative lawmakers to make it harder for TV meteorologists to tell viewers about climate change.
TV meteorologists have emerged as frontline soldiers in the battle to persuade Americans that the Earth's climate is changing, frequently helped with graphics and other resources from nonprofit educational organization Climate Central. "Last year, four climate skeptics in the U.S. Senate demanded an investigation of the $4 million in federal funding provided for the Climate Central program, saying it 'is not science — it is propagandizing,'" James Rainey reports for the Los Angeles Times.
"After a nearly yearlong review, however, the National Science Foundation's inspector general has rejected the claim by the four Republicans — Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and James M. Inhofe and James Lankford, both of Oklahoma. The inspector general’s review 'did not reveal any evidence that limitations on political activity ... were violated,' a memorandum summarizing the investigation said."
About 750 meteorologists across the nation have requested to be on Climate Central's distribution list this year. The program started with 197 meteorologists in 2014 and had increased to 644 by last year, Rainey reports. "Weather people are probably the closest thing that millions of Americans have in terms of daily contact with a person with science training," Climate Central chief executive Ben Strauss told Rainey. "It’s obvious that our weather has been behaving in strange and new ways, and we are simply helping weathercasters to help their audiences understand why."
TV meteorologists have emerged as frontline soldiers in the battle to persuade Americans that the Earth's climate is changing, frequently helped with graphics and other resources from nonprofit educational organization Climate Central. "Last year, four climate skeptics in the U.S. Senate demanded an investigation of the $4 million in federal funding provided for the Climate Central program, saying it 'is not science — it is propagandizing,'" James Rainey reports for the Los Angeles Times.
"After a nearly yearlong review, however, the National Science Foundation's inspector general has rejected the claim by the four Republicans — Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and James M. Inhofe and James Lankford, both of Oklahoma. The inspector general’s review 'did not reveal any evidence that limitations on political activity ... were violated,' a memorandum summarizing the investigation said."
About 750 meteorologists across the nation have requested to be on Climate Central's distribution list this year. The program started with 197 meteorologists in 2014 and had increased to 644 by last year, Rainey reports. "Weather people are probably the closest thing that millions of Americans have in terms of daily contact with a person with science training," Climate Central chief executive Ben Strauss told Rainey. "It’s obvious that our weather has been behaving in strange and new ways, and we are simply helping weathercasters to help their audiences understand why."
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