Energy

Federal Scientists Blame Trump For An Obama-Era Policy On Talking To The Media

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Tim Pearce Energy Reporter
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The Trump administration is directing federal scientists to abide by guidelines relating to media appearances adopted under former President Barack Obama in 2012.

The guidelines are restricting scientists at the U.S. Geological Service (USGS) from giving timely responses to media and encouraging reporters to look elsewhere for expert advice, the USGS scientists claim according to the Las Angeles Times.

The Department of the Interior pushed back against allegations the Trump administration is restricting government scientists’ access to the media.

“The characterization that there is any new policy or that it for some reason targets scientists is completely false,” DOI deputy press secretary Faith Vander Voort told the Los Angeles Times in a statement.

The DOI’s Office of Communications (OCO) must be notified about and vet all press releases and media appearances expected to “generate significant news coverage, public interest or inquiry,” according to the DOI’s 10-page manual.

Experts, public relations teams and others within the agency are exempt from getting OCO approval in cases such as emergencies where expert guidance is needed quickly.

The DOI faced blowback earlier this year for declining requests from 14 Bureau of Land Management (BLM) archeologists to pay for them to attend the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) 2018 annual meeting. (RELATED: WaPo On The Warpath Because DOI Didn’t Want To Shell Out Taxpayer Dollars To Send 14 People To A Science Conference)

Seventeen BLM archeologists applied for a taxpayer-funded trip, but only three were approved. The rest of the scientists would have to either pay for the trip themselves or find a sponsor.

“Archaeologists from around the world were deprived of a symposium filled with valuable information about the tough issues facing land-managing agencies,” the SAA said, referring to a symposium canceled because not enough BLM employees showed up put it on. The SAA did not offer to cover the costs of the 14 archeologists denied approval to use taxpayer funds to attend the conference, however, a BLM spokeswoman confirmed to The Daily Caller News Foundation at the time.

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