This is impossible to believe -- Chris Mooney has been appointed to the board of the American Geophysical Union!
Jesus--are there no standards anymore, anywhere?
Mooney has repeatedly shown himself to be a disaster as far as science and science communication is concerned. He is utterly biased politically and has demonstrated no objectivity -- first writing an utterly biased book that attacked the right but ignored all the massive leftist misconceptions of science (such as GM foods and Alar and the like), and, worse, acted like "opinion journalism" is a valid way to encounter science. It is not, but merely the weak fall-back position of someone who cannot be bothered to actually study and understand the relevant science.
Mooney's second book, on the the supposedly stormy weather that the world is supposedly bound to experience, has been an utter bomb, as shown by (among other studies) Ryan Maue's tabulation of Accumulated Cyclonic Energy (ACE) for the last several decades -- currently at a 35 yr low.
Mooney is an ENGLISH MAJOR! He knows nothing about science, let along the geosciences, and has demonstrated this time and time again with utterly bad and irrelevant advice. He thinks that he, a mere liberal arts major who probably doesn't even know what a differential equation is, can dare to tell PhD scientists how they should behave.
Has the AGU suddenly lost all concern for scientific competence?
Umm, Alar?
ReplyDeleteIt's a chemical put on fruit, I think, Tim Lambert.
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There are lots of science-based subjects where thinking found traditionally on the left that is tribal, suspect, wrong or very contentious, and has done real harm when applied politically.
Radiation (anti-nuclear-energy, anti-nuclear weapons, anti-nuclear medicine, anti-nuclear research, anti-wifi, anti-x-rays).
Anti-Vaccination.
Suspicious of Science-based-medicine.
Anti-Fluoride, anti-mercury fillings.
Supportive of Integrative medicine.
Supportive of new-age crystal-healing and similar woo.
Suspicious of the research and applications of Genetic Modification.
Animal Liberation.
Dogmatic about science may study or say regarding human racial differences.
Yes, the left has bits of science they are not keen on. But Mooney did not ignore this - his thesis was that the left's dislike of GMO isn't mainstream like the rights's opposition to evolution or AGW is.
ReplyDeleteBut my question about Alar was about David claasing it as something that the left got wrong. As far as I can tell, Alar is a probable carcinogen and was correctly banned from being used on food. Claim's to the contrary appear to be part of the right's war on science.
IMHO Chris is on the board to help improve its messenging. I see nothing wrong with that. Chris has a different approach than David and there's nothing wrong with that.
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(Word verif agrees: amphyti)
I think the second book discussed the scientific debate over hurricanes without drawing a firm conclusion. Overall storm stats have clearly been headed up. TCs are a complicated story since increased warmth also affects factors that tend to damp them, but Kerry Emanuel thinks long-term expectations remain up. Maue is a bit of a winger BTW.
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