by Mark Clayton

At least since 2003, and especially after hurricane Katrina hit, the White House has broadly attempted to control which climate scientists could speak with reporters, as well as editing scientists' congressional testimony on climate science and key legal opinions, according to a new report by a House committee.

"The Bush Administration has engaged in a systematic effort to manipulate climate change science and mislead policy makers and the public about the dangers of global warming," said the report, which is the result of a 16-month probe by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. "The White House exerted unusual control over the public statements of federal scientists on climate change issues."

by Hovannes Shoghikian

A U.S. anti-corruption watchdog joined on Thursday a British whistleblower in accusing the World Bank of covering up what they see as gross misuse of a $30 million loan that was meant to upgrade Armenia’s battered water infrastructure.

The loan was part of a 1999 World Bank project designed to quickly improve supplies of drinking water in Yerevan. The Armenian parliament formed in 2003 an ad hoc commission to investigate the effectiveness of these and other large-scale infrastructure projects financed by Western donors.

In its first report made public in March 2004, the commission headed by deputy speaker Vahan Hovannisian concluded that the water scheme has failed to achieve its main objectives due to mismanagement and corruption among government officials and private firms. The report also deplored the fact that 27 percent of the World Bank funds have been spent on project management, overheads and logistics.

by William McCall

Concerns about possible mercury contamination have led to a new lawsuit over plans to destroy an aging stockpile of mustard gas at a remote chemical weapons depot in Oregon.

The Government Accountability Project lawsuit against the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality also seeks review of plans to destroy secondary wastes from the weapons incinerators at the Umatilla Chemical Depot in Hermiston — including plastic protective suits and contaminated carbon filters.

The state agency declined comment.

Richard Condit, attorney for the Government Accountability Project, said Oregon officials have ignored alternatives to burning the obsolete weapons in special incinerators constructed for that purpose at the Army depot.

by Rick Weiss

The process of writing legislation has often been compared to sausage-making, but rarely is rotten meat actually present at a congressional hearing. Yet some is expected this afternoon at a House Agriculture Committee hearing "to review technologies in the meat industry."

The hearing is in the cross hairs of activists opposed to the spiking of packaged red meats with carbon monoxide gas, which keeps cuts crimson no matter how old the meat. Unable to wrangle a place on the witness list, some plan to make their olfactory point in the hallway.

Meat producers are enthusiastic about carbon monoxide, which in small quantities poses no risk when consumed. By keeping meat red it boosts sales of aging but still edible cuts that would otherwise be tossed or discounted because of poor appearance -- a waste the industry says costs it $1 billion a year.

by Elena Gaona

A public-interest group filed a complaint with the federal government yesterday against Golden Gourmet Mushrooms, alleging that the San Marcos company sold conventionally grown mushrooms as organic, doctored organic-certification documents and misled consumers about where its mushrooms were grown.

Craig Anderson, president of Golden Gourmet, angrily dismissed the allegations.

“I want to sue somebody,” he said.

by Carrie Johnson

World Bank officials will hire two independent consultants to investigate complaints about the reliability of HIV test kits in India, they said this week in response to allegations from a doctor who sounded alarms about faulty products.

Graeme Wheeler, the bank's managing director, and Kees Kostermans, a medical expert who oversees the bank's South Asia public health operations, did not say when the consultants would be hired. In correspondence with the doctor, they said it would take some time to complete a systematic review of the HIV test kit program in India.

The bank has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into India through programs intended to prevent the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS. Those efforts came under fresh scrutiny when Kunal Saha, an Ohio physician who traveled to India this year at the bank's request, said he uncovered documents suggesting that defective tests had produced high numbers of false negative results. Indians given false results could expose others to HIV, Saha said.

by Andrew Revkin

The White House made deep cuts in written testimony given to a Senate committee this week by the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on health risks posed by global warming, but the director agreed yesterday with administration officials who said the cuts were part of a normal review process and not aimed at minimizing the issue.

Dr. Julie L. Gerberding, the agency’s director, said in a telephone interview that news reports and comments about the changes had made “a mountain out of a molehill.”

“I said everything I needed to say,” she said.

Dr. Gerberding, who addressed the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Tuesday, said she had freely spoken for more than a year about the implications for public health should warming from the buildup of greenhouse gases proceed as scientists project. Still, cuts made to her written testimony included the only statements casting the health risks from climate change as a problem, describing it variously as posing “difficult challenges” and as “a serious public health concern.”

by Carrie Johnson

A doctor retained by the World Bank to examine a program to combat the spread of HIV in India has been warning officials for months that defective testing kits could be putting people at risk.

Kunal Saha, an AIDS specialist who visited India early this year at the behest of the bank, has pressed authorities to release a public report based on the inquiry. He also wants officials to ensure that the kits, which he says have produced false negative results, are removed from hospitals and blood banks. Saha said he has evidence that some of the questionable kits were in use as recently as April.

"If people are getting HIV because of defective test kits, it's horrendous, it's unthinkable," Saha said in a telephone interview.