I have noted that climate change deniers have embraced a sound-bite to defend their position.

Science is never settled.
Well, that is true enough. We are always learning new things about climate, biology, the cosmos.
I got no problem with that.

But, if you pay close attention you will note that Science is never settled has been used as a justification for this unspoken argument:
" Because we don't know everything about climate change, we really don't know anything about climate change. And, all theories, whether supported by evidence or not, are equally valid."

Rick Perry does not believe that CO2 drives climate change. Perry  just stated that he believes that the "most likely the primary control knob is the ocean waters and this environment that we live in."

Well, there is absolutely no evidence suggesting that the ocean is causing climate change, and I don't even know what the second part of that statement means. Yea, we don't know everything about climate change. But, to offer up completely unsupported theories - and to demand that they be accepted as having an equal probability of being correct as do those theories that are supported - is bizarre.

Science is always progressing. And it progresses because we establish certain facts, and then we build on them to advance knowledge even further. We do not know everything there is to know about the cosmos, for instance. But that does not mean that we start every day thinking that the sun might actually orbit the earth, or that pixie dust holds up the stars. We do not start every day expecting physicists to again prove gravity before moving on.

There is a widespread scientific consensus - supported by a mountain of data - that CO2 drives climate change and that most of climate change is man-made. If you have another theory, it is incumbent upon you to support it with evidence in order to be taken seriously. To suggest - without evidence - that the most reassuring scenario is also the most plausible is not logical thinking.

The Science is never settled  is not an excuse for magical thinking.

But, in the twilight of our Republic people reject a scientific consensus in favor of wishfull thinking, and pat themselves on the back for their "open mindeness".
And willful ignorance is called enlightenment.
What a mess.
 

Last edited by Goose (6/20/2017 9:14 am)