BEIJING, Jan. 31 (Xinhuanet) -- The Bush administration was criticized for micromanaging U.S. climate programs and closely controlling what scientists have been allowed to tell the public, media reported Wednesday.

    Henry Waxman, Chairman of the oversight committee in the House of Representatives, claimed that the committee had sought documents from the administration on climate policy, but repeatedly been rebuffed.

    "The committee isn't trying to obtain state secrets or documents that could affect our immediate national security," said Waxman, "we are simply seeking answers to whether the White House's political staff is inappropriately censoring impartial government scientists."

    The chairman said that the White House possesses documents that contain evidence of an attempt by senior administration officials to mislead the public by injecting doubt into the science of global warming and minimising the potential dangers.

    "It appears there may have been an orchestrated campaign to mislead the public about climate change," said Waxman.

    Two private advocacy groups, the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Government Accountability Project, released a survey to U.S. Congress in which a number of government climate scientists claimed either that their research had been edited to change the meaning or that they were told to delete references to "global warming" or "climate change" from reports.

    White House officials did not appear before the committee, but the President in his State of the Union Address last week referred to "global climate change" and said technology should be used to address the problem.

    The White House has conceded in the past that changes had been made in some reports to achieve "balance" in the debate, media reported.

    (Agencies)