Whistleblower: Cheney Wanted Cuts in Climate Change Testimony
Former EPA Official Says Cheney Pushed for Cuts in Health Officials' Climate Change Testimony
Burnett would not name the officials at the White House because he said he did not feel it would be constructive to "point the finger" at specific people. He does not have a copy of the finding or the e-mail that he sent to the White House.
And he may not be an entirely objective whistleblower. He has given the max in contributions to Sen. Barack Obama and $28,500 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee since April.
"I'm not interested in pointing fingers at individuals," Burnett said. "I think it's important that we turn from a… from a debate over the nature of the problem to start working on some of the solutions. And there are a number of steps that can be taken under the existing law, the Clean Air Act.
"This administration has decided to leave those important policy questions to the next administration, and I'm interested in helping… helping inform the next administration so they can make the best decision given that law while still recognizing that Congress could pass a new, better law that would more appropriately deal with this problem."
He was defended on this point by Boxer.
"It's really a sad day when there's a requirement that you be a Republican to work in the EPA on an environmental issue or you have to be a Democrat to do it. That is really sad. And I think the important thing for us -- we're all Americans, and we all breathe the same air, regardless of our party," Boxer said.
CDC Head's Testimony Redacted
CDC head Gerberding gave testimony in October 2007 that was shown to have been heavily redacted by the White House.
Burnett said in the letter to Boxer that he was asked by Cheney's office to aid in that redaction in order to "keep options open for the [EPA] Administrator," but he refused because, "I only worked to keep options open that were consistent with relevant scientific information."
Do you have more information about this topic? If so, please click here to contact the editors of ABC News.
