Monday, September 10, 2012

Too much advocacy?
This article clearly lays out the problems with advocacy by scientists in public policy debates.

To those who think better ‘communication’ is the key to action in the climate change debate, with scientists as activist/communicators, I hope that they will realize the damage done to their policy agenda (not to mention the science) by this strategy.
Once More On Climate Change | September 10, 2012 Issue - Vol. 90 Issue 37 | Chemical & Engineering News
when climate-change deniers say, as they regularly do, that global temperatures have been falling, that is a lie. When climate-change deniers say, as they regularly do, that the extent of Arctic sea ice is increasing, that is a lie.

In my nearly nine years as editor-in-chief of C&EN, I have written numerous editorials on climate change. Too many, some readers insist. I should have focused more on chemistry, the chemical industry, the bleak job situation some chemists face. It is hard for me to understand this attitude. I wrote about those subjects, regularly, but climate disruption is the greatest challenge facing humanity today, and we continue to do next to nothing about it.
Hometown heroes: Three ways to win climate fights at the local level | Grist
2. Go after oil, gas, and coal infrastructure

The Achilles’ heel of the fossil-fuel economy is its dependency on a complex web of key infrastructure projects. Large plants, pipelines, rail lines, and seaports are all vital components of the energy system that most threatens our climate. By targeting these critical elements, campaigners can slow down, complicate, increase the costs of, and ultimately block fossil-fuel projects.
Funny Chevy Volt Ad - Minnesotans For Global Warming

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Too much advocacy" has a broken link.

Tom said...

Thanks--it should be fixed now.