CDC Dissolves Its Climate Team, Folds It Into Group That Specializes In Asthma

WASHINGTON — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has quietly folded its Climate and Health Program into a branch that studies asthma and expunged the word climate from the name of the newly consolidated office, the agency confirmed on Thursday.

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 down 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 fiercer storms, longer droughts and other extreme weather events. It was also an important contributor to the National Climate Assessment, a landmark government report that detailed new health hazards related rising greenhouse gas emissions.

The former head of the unit, George E. Luber, has been reassigned to the agency’s waterborne diseases unit. He also was the subject of a dismissal notice until this week, but the notice was retracted after lawyers for a nonprofit watchdog group said they were considering filing a federal whistle-blower complaint. Asked about the retraction notice, which was seen by The New York Times, the agency declined to comment.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/20/climate/cdc-climate-change.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fclimate&action=click&contentCollection=climate®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront