An agency spokeswoman, Kathryn Harben, said in a statement that the move was part of a broader reorganization within the agency’s environmental health division that pared eight programs to four.
The climate and health office is the agency’s only program meant to help state and local governments prepare for the health consequences of extreme weather events. It was also an important contributor to the National Climate Assessment, a lgovernment report that detailed new health hazards related rising greenhouse gas emissions.
The former head of the unit, George E. Luber, has been reassigned. He also was the subject of a dismissal notice until this week, but the notice was retracted after lawyers for a nonprofit watchdog group said they were considering filing a federal whistleblower complaint. Asked about the retraction notice, the agency declined to comment.
Lawyers for the watchdog group, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, accused the CDC and Prevention of retaliating against Luber for objecting to changes in the climate program, raising concerns the agency might be diverting funds intended for climate change work, and for refusing to keep a low public profile.
The $10 million Climate and Health Program within the agency is funded by Congress and, under federal law, those funds cannot be diverted to other areas of research.
The lawyers said the White House itself did not target Luber or his program, but that agency managers feared his outspokenness would draw unwanted attention from President Donald Trump and others within his administration who reject the scientific consensus on global warming.
The agency’s termination notice accused Luber of submitting falsified timecards between 2013 and 2018, writing a book in 2013 without authorization, and improperly asking subordinates to give university lectures. The notice also cited an anonymous source who charged that Luber had been late to a presentation because of a hangover.
Luber, through his lawyers, denies all the accusations. Bell said that, until Luber received the agency’s termination notice, he had a spotless record at the CDC, had consistently been given positive performance evaluations and had never been formally or informally disciplined for any reason.
T
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.