SeekerBlog

Roger Pielke Jr. (and Tom Yulsman) on the new Nature essay by Dan Sarewitz:

[UPDATE: Tom Yulsman weighs in on the significance of the Sarewitz essay for journalists.]

In this week’s Nature, Dan Sarewitz of ASU (and also a long-time friend, mentor and collaborator of mine) explains that whatever is done to restore trust in climate science, that alone won’t do much to advance climate policy. Sarewitz explains that waging climate politics through science was always going to be a losing proposition for those calling for action:

(…)

Can climate policy be reframed? I’m not sure. There is a lot of vested interest in the current framing that has science as the battleground between the right and the left. If history is any guide that ideological battle won’t be won anytime soon. But maybe if we look beyond waging ideological battles through science we just might make better progress on reducing vulnerabilities and increasing security and wealth. Those are goals that we all can agree on, regardless of our views on climate science or political orientation, and can offer a starting point for progress.

[From Good Enough Science]

Dan, Tom and Roger have it right. Though I was surprised that Roger didn’t bring up the critical point that the focus needs to shift to carbon efficiency goals (the Kaya Identity) and away from emissions goals. China and Japan have already done this. The EU continues to fixate on the failed Kyoto approach.