wsbt.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Commerce Department investigation has found no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of federal climate researchers whose e-mails were leaked in the debate over global climate change.

The report from the department's inspector general is the latest to exonerate climate scientists whose communications with the Climate Research Unit at England's University of East Anglia were stolen and made public in 2009. The department reviewed all 1,073 leaked e-mails, but focused on 289 that involved National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists.

Mary Glackin, NOAA's deputy undersecretary for operations, said she welcomed the report since "none of the investigations have found any evidence to question the ethics of our scientists or raise doubts about NOAA's understanding of climate change science."