Posted by
Always To The Right on Thursday, January 31, 2008 10:32:39 PM
Witanagemot
Justice And Senator Inhofe’s Fancy List - Anyone interested in the intersection of science and
politics has to be watching with some amusement and more than a little dismay at the spectacle of professional
immolation that the climate science community has engaged in following the release of Senator James Inhofe’s
list of 400+
climate skeptics.
The amusement comes from the fact that everyone involved in this tempest in a teapot seems to be working as
hard as possible in ways contrary to their political interests. (Prometheus)
Not sure I agree with Roger Junior’s conclusions here. For one thing the Senator’s list might encourage
skeptics to speak out because their voices will not be alone and they can take courage from company in
expressing doubts over positions espoused by government-imposed authority (the IPCC acronym stands for Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change after all).
Offering comfort and encouragement to those wishing to raise legitimate doubts but concerned about
appearing a lone dissenter is surely to be encouraged rather than disparaged. If it discouraged young
researchers speaking out for fear of being listed as skeptical then that would say much about the established
authority and none of it complimentary.
Scientists worried about appearing skeptical should perhaps familiarize themselves with Thomas Henry Huxley
(1825-1895).
Moreover, the maintainer of the list, Marc Morano (who probably has a fancy title like "Communications
Director" or something but I don’t just recall what it might be), has a public
e-mail address and anyone concerned about finding themselves on said list could simply ask to be removed
with a stub stating they were wrongly included and that it did not reflect their position, so "Steve
Rayner asked if there was some way to sue the Senator for defamation, tongue only partly in cheek"
is a pretty silly and heavily loaded response.
On the whole I’d say anything which encourages skepticism is to be applauded and so publication of a list
challenging the oft-touted "consensus" is a good thing.