See No EPA, Speak No EPA

The story of how the White House refused to read email from the EPA that included a report on climate change might be the most hilariously tragic incident of the last seven years.  Of course, the EPA -- rather than do anything so drastic as deliver the report by courier -- revised it to avoid the non-winger spam filter at the White House.  Which makes the story simply tragic.

As it turns out, it wasn't just their eyes that the Bush administration was covering.  Dick Cheney was making sure that the royal ears were protected as well.

Members of Vice President's Dick Cheney's staff censored congressional testimony by a top federal official on the health threats posed by global warming, a former Environmental Protection Agency official said today.

In a letter to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, former EPA deputy associate administrator Jason K. Burnett said an official from Cheney's office edited out six pages from the testimony of Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, last October.

The White House insists that it's common to go over testimony, and that there's "nothing nefarious" going on here.  Naturally.

What could be nefarious about excising scientific facts and covering up threats to public health?