Vint Cerf and Others Form Advocacy Group

Omega writes "Vint Cerf, father of TCP/IP, and several Nobel Prize winners have formed a 527 committee called 'Scientists and Engineers for Change.' Among their major complaints are that the Bush administration has ignored and misused scientific findings to achieve political goals and that it has stifled scientific research. While the group isn't officially endorsing Kerry, Dr. Cerf points out it's pretty obvious what their goal is."

Comments

The difference is...

[SimianOverlord]

I agree wiht your post to some extent. The difference is that when a tree is cut down, there aren't two camps of lumberjacks hotly debating whether it was a Elm or a Beech. Science is confusing enough for those whose business it is to know the ins and outs. Simply because Bush tends to believe one camp over another is not grounds to condemn the man. Our time is limited and at some point we must trust the word of an advisor, who himself must trust another to provide his information. The chain continues where it might terminate in someone with an agenda. Politicians by their nature are generalists not specialists, they cannot afford to be.

But really the point is - misusing science is not limited to the Bush government. I'd like you, if you will, to give me a couple of examples of Bush ignoring established scientific consensus. I'm willing to change my opinion. On the global warming question, there is no doubt recent trends show global warming is occurring and is inevitable. Though it is not my field, it seems to me that it is the magnitude, and downstream effects of this that are hotly debated, a debate muddied by bad science and vested interests, but a debate nonetheless.