Underplayed Story of the Day

There they go again. An AP story that ran on A10 of the Washington Post this morning quotes two unnamed sources as saying the White House "significantly edited" the testimony of Centers for Disease Control Director Julie Gerberding to delete references to the effects of climate change on the spread of disease:

A CDC official familiar with both versions said Gerberding's draft "was eviscerated," cut from 14 pages to four. The version presented to the Senate committee consisted of six pages.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the review process, said that while it is customary for testimony to be changed in a White House review, these changes were particularly "heavy-handed."

Specifically:

The deletions directed by the White House included details on how many people might be adversely affected because of increased warming and the scientific basis for some of the CDC's analysis on what kinds of diseases might be spread in a warmer climate and rising sea levels, according to one official who had seen the original version.