Monday 12 February 2007

Skeptical about politicisation of scientists

A letter in the Washington Times from Cafe Hayek's Don Boudreaux is worth reprinting here.
Cool reception
Let's grant (if just for the sake of argument) that environmental scientists have proved that Earth's ideal average temperature was reached about a century ago and that the temperature is rising because of human activity ("Just the facts," Op-Ed, yesterday).

The truth remains that these scientists have no expertise to judge whether government can be trusted with the power and resources to "combat" global warming. Nor can these scientists tell us how a free market likely would deal with global warming's consequences.

Contrary to widespread belief, environmental scientists can legitimately say nothing about whether, or how, to respond to global warming.

DONALD J. BOUDREAUX
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
More discussion of his point about specialisation at Cafe Hayek: Let's Have Less Hot Air About Global Warming.

RELATED:
Politics, Science, Global Warming

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

PC, I've just returned from ten days in Sydney. The papers and TV news were full of climate change and its alarmist predictions to the exclusion of almost everything else.

I only read one piece (in The Australian) from a university lecturer in Canberra whose name escapes me, urging restraint against govt-imposed measures.

Unfortunately, he was also at odds with those concerned with the global rise of Islam ...