August 27, 2020 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has allegedly halted a probe into a case of possible political interference in conservation measures.
Advocacy group Democracy Forward said Wednesday that it was notified late last month that NOAA would pause its inquiry into alleged political interference in science regarding protections for the endangered North Atlantic right whale, and blasted the agency’s reasons for doing so.
NOAA launched a scientific integrity inquiry after Roll Call reported in March that protections for the whale species were weakened after they were reviewed by the agency’s “political team.”
Following that report, Democracy Forward requested an investigation. The group announced Wednesday that it was informed in April that NOAA’s Scientific Integrity Committee had launched an inquiry, a step that precedes an investigation, into the matter.