"U.S. officials on Thursday cleared scientists of charges that they manipulated data about climate change in e-mails that were stolen from a British university in 2009, triggering a climate scandal.

The Department of Commerce's Inspector General conducted the independent review of e-mails taken from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in England, at the request of Republican Senator James Inhofe, a climate change skeptic.

The e-mails included exchanges between researchers at the university and many of the world's top climate scientists, including employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an office of the Commerce Department."

Timothy Gardner reports for Reuters February 25, 2011. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Slim Pickings For Climate Science Critics in Inspector General Report" (Dot Earth) [3]