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"Skeptical Environmentalist" Rebuked
mpsmps writes "The "Skeptical Environmentalist", reviewed in slashdot here has been rebuked by the Danish Committee on Scientific Dishonesty for shoddy, politically motivated science. Are they being valuable watchdogs, or are both sides driven by politics rather than science?"
The Skeptical Environmentalist has been debated in Skeptic magazines and the author of the book was allowed to respond to the critiques. Simply put, the detractors of this book point out very few flaws and don't debate the majority of the content. We have to fight pseudo-science and outright lies in the name of science where they occur. The Skeptical Environmentalist does this. The author however, is not a scientist per se but a statistician and it seems that has ruffled some feathers. If you are wondering what all the hubbub is about, read the book and make up your mind for yourself.
Never overestimate the end user. -jeramy b. smith
It really shouldn't surprise anyone that The Skeptical Environmentalist was rebuked and most of what the guy had to say was bogus.
Even the right neo-liberal economy worshippers who view anything that could cut into profits as inherently evil have stopped arguing that human activity is causing wide-spread climate change. (I love how the ignorant media loves to call these people 'conservative'. Look the word up in a damn dictionary, a conservative - someone who hopes to conserve the status quo and is suspicious of the mechanisms and out comes of change - would be AGAINST climate change.... Sorry.)
The official Wallstreet / Whitehouse message is now, "There's nothing we can do about it and it would be too expensive to try. It'll hurt the economy so we'll just have to adapt. So go about your business and, oh, hey look, a Cadillac Escalade!" When these guys admit that the argument against climate change can be dismissed as a canard...
The issue is not, is there accelerated climate change as a result of man's activities? This issue is how bad are things going to get, how much will we loose and what can and should we be doing to stop or slow it down. Oh course, the people who are most directly responsible are the same people who will be the least affected.
Sigh.
Lomborg's opponents come across as a bunch of fundamentalist ranters (you could probably run the response in Skeptic through a sed script and make it into a pretty good approximation of an anti-abortion screed), but that does not excuse Lomborg's faults. The Skeptical Environmentalist should stand on its own merits; from all unbiased accounts including my own, it fails miserably.
Scientists restrict study to entire physical universe; creationist
It really shouldn't surprise anyone that The Skeptical Environmentalist was rebuked and most of what the guy had to say was bogus.
No, it wasn't "rebuked". I've seen very little in the way of substantive criticism, and what little there is has been responded to in a responsible way. I'd be happy to see actual debate about this.
This issue is how bad are things going to get, how much will we loose and what can and should we be doing to stop or slow it down
This is exactly what Lomborg is talking about. He simply gives an overview of accepted work, and puts forth the idea that "it's not as bad as some people have said". That's really about it. Have you read the book? Do you know of any of his facts that are wrong? Of course you didn't, and I'm guessing you don't. You're as bad as the idiots who made the ruling - basically on the basis of "He's going against the dogma, must be wrong".
The question "How bad are things?" is a valid one to ask. The person who does the research and comes back with "Not as bad as some people say" doesn't need to get shot. Engaged and debated with? Of course. But in a reasonable way.
But the "scientists" who are most mad at him are the ones that are embarrassed - the one's who he quotes making wacky predictions in the 80's that didn't come true.
Let's not stir that bag of worms...
Is science ever NOT driven by politics? Lets face it, politics is about power and money, and power and money are given to scientists so they can produce more power and money. If the research won't produce power or money, it's unlikely to get a lot of funding or attention.
The best example I have is nuclear energy. There are only TWO good applications for nuclear energy, one is powering vehicles in extreme environments (submarines and spacecraft), and the other is BLOWING YOU THE FUCK UP (I was told that by a retired nuclear engineer, BTW.) But in the 1950's everyone thought they'd be getting nuclear cars and nuclear home heating and hell they even tried to build a nuclear airplane which was a complete debocle (Uranium, lead, concrete, all pretty heavy materials.) Why did so much money get dumped into a stupid technology? It produced a lot of POWER, and I don't just mean electricity.
Bottom line, science is a power struggle. It sucks, but it's true.
-73, de n1ywb
www.n1ywb.com
Well, as I have read the book through, and found it to be entirely a presentation of statistics which no one is contesting, and a reasoned interpretation thereof, I would be very interested to hear any examples of where you believe it is `biased' and `a crock'.
Simply throwing around such charges without backing them up suggests that you are condemning the book merely for not agreeing with your politics -- in which case you are the one deserving rebuke for unscientific conduct...