The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management says it has found no misconduct in research by an Alaska scientist who wrote a 2006 paper on drowned polar bears and was subsequently investigated.
Scientific integrity officer Bradley Blythe says in a memo to BOEM Director Tommy Beaudreau that he considers the review of Charles Monnett closed.
Monnett’s peer-reviewed paper reported four dead polar bears floating in Arctic Ocean waters after a storm.
Monnett and a co-author suggested that polar bear drowning could increase if pack ice continued to diminish. The paper received widespread media coverage as a negative effect of global warming.
Monnett has been represented by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
Executive Director Jeff Ruch says the motivation for the investigation was retaliation by a pro-drilling federal agency.
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