Government Accountability Project

Description

Government Accountability Project (GAP) supports whistleblowers who report wrongdoing inside government and corporations. It is based in Washington, DC. GAP also works closely with journalists so that whistleblowers and their disclosures reach the public.

One of GAP’s projects is Climate Science and Policy Watch, or CSPW. It grew out of Climate Science Watch, founded in 2005 by federal whistleblower Rick Piltz. Piltz resigned from the US Global Change Research Program in protest of political interference in government climate science.

The New York Times reported Piltz’s disclosure of politically motivated editing of scientific documents. He then ran Climate Science Watch until his death in 2014, publishing blog posts, testifying before Congress and appearing widely in the media.

In 2015 his associates at GAP reconstituted the project as Climate Science and Policy Watch. This broadened its original mission of holding government accountable for the integrity of climate research to include a focus on public policy responses to climate change.

CSPW works with partner organizations such as Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Center for Biological Diversity. It champions scientists and officials who speak out against climate denial and political interference in federal climate science and policymaking.