Posted by Jonathan Adler:
Unpolitical Science:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_02_01-2009_02_07.shtml#1233804643
The [1]LA Times reports on an interview with Energy Secretary Steven
Chu, a Nobel-winning physicist, about the threat climate change poses
to California.
Reporting from Washington -- California's farms and vineyards could
vanish by the end of the century, and its major cities could be in
jeopardy, if Americans do not act to slow the advance of global
warming, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu said Tuesday. . . .
"I don't think the American public has gripped in its gut what
could happen," he said. "We're looking at a scenario where there's
no more agriculture in California." And, he added, "I don't
actually see how they can keep their cities going" either.
These are fairly apocalyptic predictions. The problem, as [2]Roger
Pielke Jr. notes at Prometheus, is that Chu's claims are not supported
by available climate science. There are plenty of studies identifying
potential negative impacts in California from climate change, such as
[3]this one linked by [4]Sean Hecht at Environmental & Law, yet I am
not aware of any that could support the claim that climate change
threatens to end all agriculture in California.
For years we've heard complaints about how the Bush Administration
waged a "war on science" by, among other things, distorting or
misrepresenting scientific findings in order to support its policy
positions. If the LA Times accurately reported on Chu's remarks, it
seems like Obama Administration officials are already doing the same
thing (and even before [5]John Holdren is confirmed).
References
1. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-warming4-2009feb04,0,7454963.story
2.
http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/prometheus/can-someone-point-to-the-science-4930
3.
http://www.energy.ca.gov/2008publications/CEC-500-2008-077/CEC-500-2008-077.PDF
4.
http://environmentallaw.wordpress.com/2009/02/04/wow-things-really-have-changed-in-washington-a-cabinet-official-speaks-about-climate-changes-impacts-on-california/
5.
http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/03/holdren-obama-science-opinions-contributors_0203_ronald_bailey.html
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