WASHINGTON — Two federal agencies are investigating whether the Bush administration tried to block government scientists from speaking freely about global warming and censor their research, a senator said Wednesday.
Senator Lautenberg, a Democrat of New Jersey, said he was informed that the inspectors general for the Commerce Department and NASA had begun "coordinated, sweeping investigations of the Bush administration's censorship and suppression" of federal research into global warming.
"These investigations are critical because the Republicans in Congress have ignored this serious problem," Mr. Lautenberg said.
He said the investigations "will uncover internal documents and agency correspondence that may expose widespread misconduct." He added: "Taxpayers do not fund scientific research so the Bush White House can alter it."
Messages left Wednesday at the offices of the inspectors general, which serve as the agencies' internal watchdogs, were not immediately returned.
A spokeswoman for the White House Council for Environmental Quality, Kristen Hellmer, said Wednesday night that the administration has supported the scientific process in its approach to studying climate change.
"We have in place the most transparent system of science reporting, and claims that the administration interfered with scientists are false," Ms. Hellmer said. "Our focus is on taking action and making real progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The nearly $2 billion worth of climate science we publish annually leads the world and speaks for itself."
Carbon dioxide and other gases primarily from fossil fuel-burning that scientists say trap heat in the atmosphere have warmed the Earth's surface an average 1 degree over the past century. The White House has committed to reducing the "intensity"of American carbon pollution, a measure of the amount of carbon dioxide emitted a unit of economic growth.