The gust of wind that surged through Washington D.C. earlier this month was not a warm front moving in. It was the collective sigh of relief when President Barack Obama issued a memorandum that will protect the work of the 100,000 scientists and engineers in the U.S. government. (See "Scientific housecleaning: Integrity and transparency to have their day in the Sun.)

But it's likely that no one felt a greater sense of relief - or vindication - than Rick Piltz. Rick is the guy who blew the whistle on the Bush Administration's censorship of federal climate science. More specifically, he's the guy who told the New York Times about the politically motivated manipulation of climate science reports by Phil Cooney, an oil industry lobbyist who was appointed to a top position in the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ).

It wasn't a pleasant experience for Rick. From his former position as Senior Associate in the office that coordinates the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP), he witnessed a sustained government cover-up of federal climate science. To blow the whistle, he resigned after 10 years in that job and gave up his six-figure salary.

Originally posted on ClimateProgress.org – Bill Becker