Frederick Steven "Rick" Piltz (July 29, 1943 – October 18, 2014) was a former senior associate in the U.S.

Climate Change Science Program The Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) was the program responsible for coordinating and integrating research on global warming by U.S. government agencies from February 2002 to June 2009. Toward the end of that period, CCSP issued 21 separate c ...

. In March 2005, he resigned over political interference in the program's climate change reports. In June 2005, the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

exposed the role of

Philip Cooney Philip A. Cooney (born July 16, 1959) is a former member of the administration of United States President George W. Bush. Before being appointed to work in the Council on Environmental Quality, he was a lawyer and lobbyist for the American Petr ...

in editing government documents on

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

to create an appearance of scientific uncertainty. A former

lobbyist Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by various entities, in ...

with the

American Petroleum Institute The American Petroleum Institute (API) is the largest U.S. trade association for the oil and natural gas industry. It claims to represent nearly 600 corporations involved in extraction of petroleum, production, oil refinery, refinement, pipeline ...

, Cooney resigned and days later took a job at

ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...

. Piltz went on to found Climate Science Watch, a project to hold public officials accountable for using

climate science Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "slope"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. Climate concerns the atmospher ...

with integrity in

policy making Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an organ ...

. Climate Science Watch is a program of the

Government Accountability Project The Government Accountability Project (GAP) is a nonprofit whistleblower Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or publi ...

, a

whistleblower Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical or ...

protection agency in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Politicization of science

Piltz spent 14 years in various positions in Washington closely following how global warming science is misused by the government and

special interest groups A special interest group (SIG) is a community within a larger organization with a shared interest in advancing a specific area of knowledge, learning or technology where members cooperate to effect or to produce solutions within their particular f ...

. From 1995, he served in senior positions in the Climate Change Science Program, before resigning in March 2005. In his resignation letter, he wrote, "I believe the overarching problem is that the

ush USH may refer to: * Ush Island, a Russian island in the Sea of Okhotsk * Ush, king of Umma, King or ensi of Umma, a city-state in Sumer, circa 2450 BCE *Ugandan shilling (abbreviated USh), the currency of Uganda *Universal Studios Hollywood ...

Administration...does not want and has acted to impede forthright communication of the state of climate science and its implication for society." Within months, the ''New York Times'' exposed White House operative

for editing government climate documents to increase

uncertainty Uncertainty or incertitude refers to situations involving imperfect or unknown information. It applies to predictions of future events, to physical measurements that are already made, or to the unknown, and is particularly relevant for decision ...

about the science. Cooney resigned and joined

. Piltz also states that forces within the Bush administration have sought to hide the results from the

National Assessment on Climate Change The National Climate Assessment (NCA) is an initiative within the U.S. federal government focused on climate change science, formed under the auspices of the Global Change Research Act of 1990. Background The NCA is a major product of the U.S. ...

Government watchdog

Piltz founded Climate Science Watch in the summer of 2005. The group tracks and investigates climate science policy developments in the news and occasionally publishes leaked documents from government insiders. Piltz testified twice before

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

since creating Climate Science Watch.

Personal life

Piltz was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. In October 2014, Piltz died at a hospice in

bladder cancer Bladder cancer is the abnormal growth of cells in the bladder. These cells can grow to form a tumor, which eventually spreads, damaging the bladder and other organs. Most people with bladder cancer are diagnosed after noticing blood in thei ...

at the age of 71. Piltz was a B.A. (1965), M.A. (1967) graduate of the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. Since going public with the White House's attempts to undermine the science on climate change, Piltz has been interviewed by a number of media venues including ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...

'', '' Frontline'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', ''

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

'', the ''

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

'', and the science journal ''

Environmental Science & Technology ''Environmental Science & Technology'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal published since 1967 by the American Chemical Society. It covers research in environmental science and environmental technology, including environmental policy. ...

''. He is also a central character in the award-winning documentary '' Everything's Cool''.

Awards

Piltz was awarded the Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling in 2006 for his work to prevent the politicization of climate science reporting in the federal government. The prize is awarded to a citizen, corporate, or government whistleblower, investigative journalist, or organization for bringing a specific issue of social importance to the public's attention."Ridenhour Prize for Truth Telling"
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References

External links

;Media appearance
"Frontline: Hot Politics"
January 2007 interview with Rick Piltz about White House interference with government climate change programs.
"Out of Balance: ExxonMobil's Impact on Climate Change"

November 2006, Piltz speaks with the

about industry's strategy to manufacture uncertainty.
"Rewriting the Science"

, July 30, 2006.
"Blowing the Whistle on Climate Change: Interview with Rick Piltz"
''Environmental Science & Technology'', June 22, 2005. ;Other links

''

'', June 8, 2005. * ttps://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/10/politics/11cooney.long.html?ei=5088&en=ed76c8cb7d540f10&ex=1276142400&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=print "Editor of Climate Reports Resigns"''New York Times'', June 10, 2005.
Climate Science Watch:
a government watchdog.
Piltz testimony before House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
January, 2007.
Declaration filed by Piltz
in support of lawsuit to compel the Bush administration to perform a national climate change impact assessment. *
Appearances on C-SPAN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Piltz, Rick S. 1943 births 2014 deaths American whistleblowers University of Michigan alumni Deaths from cancer in Washington, D.C. Deaths from bladder cancer in the United States People from Detroit