Guest essay by Forrest M. Mims III
Traditional science required a skeptical view of one’s own findings until they could be replicated, especially by others. Unfortunately, skepticism has been deleted from the latest edition of “On Being a Scientist,” a widely-read booklet published by the National Academies of Science. When I asked the NAS about this unfortunate deletion, they explained there was insufficient space to include this fundamental aspect of doing science. Yet I counted nearly 10 pages of white space in the new edition.
Despite the NAS change, I’ll continue to view science, including mine, through a veil of skepticism. That’s why I am concerned about what has become of the global warming/climate change movement, which is rapidly assuming the status of a paradigm that is automatically assumed correct by many of those unfamiliar with the science.
Some of those who criticize skeptics like me seem unaware of the scandals and the political and religious-like motivations behind the climate change movement. They need to become familiar with the content of the Climategate emails and the use of non-peer-reviewed data and erroneous information about Himalayan glaciers in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports. (Disclosure: I was an expert reviewer of the IPCC ‘s AR-5 Report.)
The IPCC scandals occurred under the leadership of former IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri, who acknowledged in his resignation letter that his “fight” against global warming is his “religion” and “dharma” (https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/ar5/150224_pachauri_letter.pdf). Pachauri had to resign after charges of sexual harassment of some of his staff.
Those who doubt political motivations are behind the global warming/climate change movement, including the Paris Agreement, should simply read what major political leaders have stated. Beginning at the top is Christiana Figueres, the Executive Secretary of UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) and the subject of this United Nations media release (http://www.unric.org/en/latest-un-buzz/29623-figueres-first-time-the-world-economy-is-transformed-intentionally):
“Figueres: First time the world economy is transformed intentionally“
Tuesday, 03 February 2015 18:34
“Christiana Figueres, the Executive Secretary of UNFCCC, warns that the fight against climate change is a process and that the necessary transformation of the world economy will not be decided at one conference or in one agreement.
“This is probably the most difficult task we have ever given ourselves, which is to intentionally transform the economic development model, for the first time in human history”, Ms Figueres stated at a press conference in Brussels.
“This is the first time in the history of mankind that we are setting ourselves the task of intentionally, within a defined period of time to change the economic development model that has been reigning for at least 150 years, since the industrial revolution.”
I was recently banned from Environment & Energy Skepti-Forum (facebook) for complaining they were publishing renewable energy propaganda. Many people there were basically spamming the group with RE fanfare and not even bothering to comment on the pseudo news they posted. No skeptics there at all. Just enviro-stalinists now with their “ban don’t discuss” tactics for dealing with people they disagree with. I must admit I was a tad rude. Coincidentally, their best forum moderator quit on the same day because she was few up of moderating a forum that no longer discussed anything.
Ejecting skepticism from science will have inevitable negative consequences for science. Without people to correct (or even look for) mistakes, the mistakes will be believed and taken as scientific fact. So the inevitable result of supporting mainstream, non-skeptical, climate science is to trash science itself. There’s a limit to how far one can push this until the deformed obscene growth of pseudo-science has to be removed. It still has some way to go because the faithful still think they are “saving the planet“.