Inspector General finds no evidence of data manipulation in ‘Climategate’

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Allegations that various climate scientists tampered with or manipulated data to progress a global warming agenda have been deemed baseless or false, according to an inquiry by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Inspector General.

Federal officials found no evidence suggesting that information exchanged between scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was tweaked in order to support an argument for human-caused climate change.

The data in dispute was administered via thousands of emails at the NOAA back in 2009 and has been cited by critics and skeptics of global warming as evidence of scientific misconduct and data tampering that exposes a wider hoax meant to progress an environmentalist agenda.

According to the New York Times, a report dated February 18 – which was circulated to the White House prior to public disclosure – read, "We did not find any evidence that NOAA inappropriately manipulated data."

Furthermore, the inquiry found no fault on the part of any involved parties, including Jane Lubchenco, NOAA's top official, who recently testified before Congress that the exchanges did not undermine climate science.

Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe requested the inquiry in May of 2010, following the release of the contested emails, which were secretly obtained from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in England.

The NOAA summarily welcomed the inquiry, as Mary Glackin, the agency's deputy undersecretary for operations, asserted in a statement, "None of the investigations have found any evidence to question the ethics of our scientists or raise doubts about NOAA's understanding of climate change science."

Nonetheless, Senator Inhofe, who has consistently moved to discredit any scientific basic for climate change, argues that the decision does not settle the dispute.

"I want to thank the Inspector General for conducting a thorough, objective and balanced investigation," Inhofe said in a statement. "NOAA is one of the nation's leading scientific organizations. Unfortunately, in reading past the executive summary, this report shows that some NOAA employees potentially violated federal contract law and engaged in data manipulation."

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