Politics in the Guise of Pure Science

New York Times ^ | February 23, 2009 | John Tierney

[reaganaut1]

Why, since President Obama promised to “restore science to its rightful place” in Washington, do some things feel not quite right?

First there was Steven Chu, the physicist and new energy secretary, warning The Los Angeles Times that climate change could make water so scarce by century’s end that “there’s no more agriculture in California” and no way to keep the state’s cities going, either.

Then there was the hearing in the Senate to confirm another physicist, John Holdren, to be the president’s science adviser. Dr. Holdren was asked about some of his gloomy neo-Malthusian warnings in the past, like his calculation in the 1980s that famines due to climate change could leave a billion people dead by 2020. Did he still believe that?

“I think it is unlikely to happen,” Dr. Holdren told the senators, but he insisted that it was still “a possibility” that “we should work energetically to avoid.”

...

Will Mr. Obama’s scientific counselors give him realistic plans for dealing with global warming and other threats? To borrow a term from Roger Pielke Jr.: Can these scientists be honest brokers?

Dr. Pielke, a professor in the environmental studies program at the University of Colorado, is the author of “The Honest Broker,” a book arguing that most scientists are fundamentally mistaken about their role in political debates. As a result, he says, they’re jeopardizing their credibility while impeding solutions to problems like global warming.

...

But too often, Dr. Pielke says, [scientists] pose as impartial experts pointing politicians to the only option that makes scientific sense. To bolster their case, they’re prone to exaggerate their expertise (like enumerating the catastrophes that would occur if their policies aren’t adopted), while denigrating their political opponents as “unqualified” or “unscientific.”

[reaganaut1]

Obama handles economic policy in the same way, pretending not to have an ideology but in fact leading consistently towards socialism.

Information about the book "The Honest Broker" is here .

[Da Coyote]

The loon couldn’t pass hs algebra. Science, my butt. When the Obamaloon and his school O’fools get their science from Al Gore, things are really, really bad.

[Hawthorn]

I seem to recall that NASA's mad scientist James Hansen has called for "global warming deniers" to be brought before an international tribunal, charged with crimes against humanity.

So perhaps John Tierney of the New York Times and Prof. Pielke would be wise to retract the words of this article, lest they find themselves in the dock à la Nuremberg.

[steelyourfaith]

 

John Holdren,
Climate Specialist Susperstitionist

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

"was asked about some of his gloomy neo-Malthusian warnings in the past, like his calculation in the 1980s that famines due to climate change could leave a billion people dead by 2020. Did he still believe that? "
Scientism Alert

That bit about "restoring science to its rightful place" was probably code for embryonic stem cell research.

Keep in mind that Obama studied Political Science at Columbia and law at Harvard. In other words, he doesn't know ANYTHING about science.

[ripley]

“Politics in the Guise of Pure Science”

Brought to you by the brilliant, all-knowing, smart, exceptionally gifted, bequeatheed-with-boundless-intelligence, self-appointed, intellectual giants of the Democrat party. (They’re so brilliant, dontcha know, that one Communist in the Democrat party is more intelligent than all the people he rules.)

/s/

IMHO

[Jacquerie]

“Once science has to serve, not truth, but the interests of . . . the state, the sole task of . . . discussion is to vindicate . . . the beliefs by which the whole life of the community is directed.”

“The word, “truth” itself ceases to have its old meaning. It becomes something to be laid down by authority.”

Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, Ch XI, The End of Truth.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[MrB]

“Science” has now become a servant of the atheistic left.

Anything observed, discovered, or interpreted that does not serve the atheistic secular humanist agenda must be quashed by whatever means possible - Intimidation, loss of career, or legal force.

[headsonpikes]

One would think that scientists would be more wary of soiling themselves with American-style Lysenkoism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysenkoism

[who_would_fardels_bear]

"The loon couldn’t pass hs algebra."

Actually I understand he is an expert in Lie Algebras, which I hear are quite complicated.

[neverdem]

The author wrote Recycling Is Garbage for the NY Times' Sunday Magazine over a decade ago. Although long, it's brilliant.

I'm not surprised that he didn't last long as William Safire's replacement on the Times' OpEd page. He had a habit of undermining sacred cows with satire, so they moved him to their science section.

[Uncle Miltie]

I should more regularly consult the Oracle for common wisdom applicable in any age.

[Loud Mime]

I'm reading this now; a great book.

[Jacquerie]

Any great quotes to share?

[Bigun]

No people will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when knowledge is diffused and Virtue is preserved. On the Contrary, when People are universally ignorant, and debauched in their Manners, they will sink under their own weight without the Aid of foreign Invaders.

Samuel Adams, letter to James Warren, November 4, 1775

[Bigun]

Nothing is more certain than that a general profligacy and corruption of manners make a people ripe for destruction. A good form of government may hold the rotten materials together for some time, but beyond a certain pitch, even the best constitution will be ineffectual, and slavery must ensue.

John Witherspoon, The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men, 1776

[Bigun]

You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatreds. You cannot establish security on borrowed money. You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man’s initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.

William J. H. Boetcker, 1916 (often attributed to Lincoln)

[Bigun]

And lastly, see my tagline.

[SunkenCiv]

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The Honest Broker: Making Sense of Science in Policy and Politics by Roger A. Pielke, Jr.	The Fifth Branch: Science Advisers as Policymakers by Sheila Jasanoff

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