Posted by Jonathan Adler:
When Climate Scientists Stay Mute:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2006_11_19-2006_11_25.shtml#1164220462
[1]Roger Pielke Jr. is astounded that "the overwhelming majority of
scientists, the media, and responsible advocacy groups have remained
mute" about "the repeated misrepresentation of science related to
disasters and climate change."
More than anything else, even the misrepresentations themselves,
the collective willingness to overlook bad policy arguments
unsupported (or even contradicted) by the current state of science
while at the same time trumpeting the importance of scientific
consensus is evidence of the comprehensive and pathological
politicization of science in the policy debate over global warming.
If climate scientists ever wonder why they are looked upon with
suspicion among some people in society, they need look no further
in their willingness to compromise their own intellectual standards
in policy debate on the issue of disasters and climate change.
Interestingly enough, Pielke particularly is concerned about the
misrepresentations of those who (like Pielke himself) support
immediate policy action to address climate change, not the so-called
"denialists" or "skeptics."**
[**Why the scare quotes? Because most so-called "denialists" or
"skeptics" do not deny the reality of anthropogenic contributions to
global warming nor are they skeptical about the basic science of
clmate change. Rather, most folks tarred with these labels are, to
some degree or another, skeptical of the evidence for certain
apocalyptic claims and the need for particualrly dramatic policy
measures and particularly vocal about their concerns.]
References
1.
http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/prometheus/archives/climate_change/000990looking_away_from_mi.html
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