The Commerce Department yesterday issued a new public communications policy (.pdf) crafted mainly in response to charges that department "minders" and flacks suppressed or edited climate change science in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a department bureau. The new policy is chock full of language that, frankly, represents a very welcome change. Here are a few examples:
And:
Sounds great. But given the hijinks at NOAA during the Bush tenure, Democrats on the House Science Committee are wary. Today three of them picked apart the policy apart and found it wanting in a few areas. Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tennessee) and two of his colleagues just sent this letter (.pdf) to Commerce head Carlos Gutierrez. In it, they ask that the communications policy be changed to specifically cite whistleblower protection laws and an anti-gag statute. They also want to include language that would give scientists final review over any "official communication product."
Above all, the Democrats don't like the policy's requirement that any employee speaking in a non-official capacity must submit all written and audiovisual materials for departmental review two weeks in advance. Commerce contends that the review is necessary to ensure that classified information doesn't leak out, ethics regulations aren't violated and the employee doesn't improperly attribute personal views to the department. The Democrats see it a different way: "This appears to amount to a limitation on free speech and could have a chilling effect on employees in exercising their rights."
