With the science increasingly certain and environmental rules tightening, the 21st-century contest for a better environment and a stable climate is shaping up to be a battle over clean data.

The wider problem of data pollution seems to grow by the hour. Volkswagen has seen its market share (and reputation) shredded over its cheating on emissions tests. Hyundai and Kia agreed last year to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties for overestimating the fuel economy of some 1.2 million vehicles. And carmakers are only among the latest to be caught manipulating data. With the Paris climate talks and tighter greenhouse gas limits looming, China has just disclosed it has substantially underreported the size of its coal industry — and thus its total greenhouse gas emissions.

The Boston Globe