It's the same problem with industry-sponsored research: you take their money and they ultimately control what you do. In this case the Feds are attempting to shut down a CO2 measuring experiment before the scientists actually conducting the research think it's time. From Duke University: DURHAM, N.C. -For more than a decade, the federal government has spent millions of dollars pumping elevated levels of carbon dioxide into small groups of trees to test how forests will respond to global warming in the next 50 years. Some scientists believe they are on the cusp of receiving key results from the time-consuming experiments. The U.S. Department of Energy, however, which is funding the project, has told the scientists to chop down the trees, collect the data and move on to new research. That plan has upset some researchers who have spent years trying to understand how forests may help stave off global warming, and who want to keep the project going for at least a couple of more yea...