CDC scientist to file whistleblower complaint after being booted from climate work

A climate change scientist who previously ran health programs at the Centers for Disease Control is now planning to file a whistleblower complaint against the agency, alleging he was removed from his office in retaliation for calling out an illegal misuse of funds set aside for climate work.

George Luber ran the climate and health program at the CDC, until his office of 18 people was rolled into a bigger asthma program, which initially was set to include the word climate in its title, but was ultimately named asthma and community health.

The CDC offered Luber the top job at the merged program, but he complained that combining the two offices would result in an illegal misuse of the $10 million that Congress had set aside specifically for climate work.

Now, Luber has been stripped of his access to his workplace. According to his lawyers, he now works from home reviewing CDC science papers unrelated to climate, must be accompanied by an armed guard to visit his old offic,e and is forbidden from contacting former colleagues who did climate work.

Last month, Luber was served with papers threatening to suspend him from the agency for 120 days without pay. This was a repeat of an earlier proposal that the agency retracted after media reports about the case.

Luber hopes the whistleblower complaint will result in a ruling that will allow him to return to climate work at the CDC. Bell added that the complaint seeks to restore Luber’s reputation as a scientist, which is at risk from the agency’s retaliatory actions.