Politics in the Guise of Pure Science

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

[SunkenCiv]

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... 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... 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."

Thanks neverdem. That other book shown popped up in my search for "The Honest Broker".