Scientists, Give Up Your Emails - The New York Times

"IN recent months, the Obama administration has been locked in a battle with Representative Lamar Smith of Texas, the Republican chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, who disputes the scientific consensus on climate change. After the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published a study last summer showing that climate change has continued unabated and perhaps accelerated over the last 15 years, Mr. Smith subpoenaed the emails of the agency’s scientists, citing whistle-blowers who say that the study had been rushed to publication. NOAA has denied this request, and some within the scientific community have called Mr. Smith’s demands a witch hunt. But allowing agencies to keep secret the communications of scientists who work for the government sets a dangerous precedent. Some of what we know about abusive practices in science — whether it concerns tobacco, pharmaceuticals, chemicals or even climate change — has come from reading scientists’ emails. Around 2007, for instance, the Senate Finance Committee sought emails and documents from several companies and agencies and about a dozen academic research centers as part of a wide-ranging investigation of possible corruption in medical research. The committee later released a report detailing emails from scientists at GlaxoSmithKline showing that the company sought to intimidate academic researchers and hide the potential dangers of the diabetes drug Avandia ..."