Over the weekend we lost Rick Piltz, a true hero with the courage to stand up and call out the Bush Administration's political interference with climate science. He will be remembered as "a gutsy whistleblower" who showed the world that oil lobbyist Phil Cooney was significantly altering official climate science reports through his position at the White House Council on Environmental Quality under George W. Bush. Just two days after Rick blew the lid off the tampering, Cooney resigned and took a job at ExxonMobil.
The New York Times story covering the scandal was monumental, detailing (thanks to Rick's documentation) dozens of changes made by Cooney that downplayed, distorted or otherwise inserted doubt about the link between CO2 emissions and global warming. In a PBS interview, Rick also reveals how he was called directly and told to delete references to the federally sponsored National Assessment of Climate Change Impacts report, and to otherwise edit the scientific document to match political preferences.
After resigning from his senior coordinating position in the US Global Change Research Program, he launched Climate Science Watch as a way to continue putting the spotlight on dishonest and politically motivated attacks on climate science.
Rick's memory will live on through those who share his commitment to honest science communication, through all of us who are inspired by his courage, and perhaps though future whistleblowers.
Rest in peace, Rick. We can only hope to live up to your example.