A district court judge ruled that the formation of a "secretive group of researchers" to cherry-pick scientific data violated federal law, the Los Angeles Times reported. 

What's happening?

On Jan. 30, Massachusetts District Court Judge William Young ruled on a lawsuit filed in August by the Environmental Defense Fund and the Union of Concerned Scientists.

In the suit, the EDF and UCS alleged that the plaintiffs — Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin — violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act by forming the group surreptitiously.

On Aug. 15, the EDF issued a press release outlining its request that the court "swiftly block the use of an inaccurate 'science' report, developed in violation of federal law." 

According to the plaintiffs, Wright and Zeldin acted in their official capacities to establish a "Climate Working Group" in secret to ensure that its findings aligned with current federal policy goals.

After dismissing over 400 government scientists who had been working on the sixth National Climate Assessment, Wright and Zeldin reportedly appointed five scientists to produce a report entitled "A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate."

Their work, published in July, broke "from broad scientific consensus" to intentionally downplay the severity of climate change.

Why is this concerning?

As the EDF's August press release explained, the report was only part of the issue.

"Secretary Wright unlawfully formed, in secret, a group of climate skeptics to write a report filled with inaccuracies and misrepresentations about climate change — and EPA Administrator Zeldin is trying to use it to undermine pollution limits," it alleged. 

"That would make life less safe and less affordable for millions of people all across the country," the EDF added.

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Not long before the suit was filed, Wright separately misrepresented the causes and dangers of extreme weather in an Aug. 4 tweet. 

In it, Wright addressed the well-documented link between rising temperatures and stronger, deadlier weather, falsely claiming it was "just NOT true."

As Wright disregarded the global scientific consensus on extreme weather, Zeldin appeared on CNN in early August to announce that the EPA planned to revoke the Agency's landmark endangerment finding. 

In 2009, the EPA formally acknowledged that planet-warming gas pollution posed a risk to public health and safety; the endangerment finding enabled the government to regulate pollution under the Clean Air Act.

As for the Climate Working Group's report, dozens of scientists denounced it in a blistering rebuke, deeming it "biased, error-ridden and unfit for guiding policy," according to the Times.

What's being done about it?

In a statement, Gretchen Goldman of the UCS lauded Judge Young's ruling.

"The court confirmed today that the process for this sham report, which was conducted in secret by five known climate contrarians, violated the law," she said.

"The public deserves transparent climate policy decisions rooted in the best available science advice from credible experts."

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