As science is increasingly used as a tool of advocacy and argument, what will be the consequences?听
Roger A. Pielke, Jr., director of the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Colorado at 葫芦娃视频, directed a discussion of the role of science in its social contexts and utility in decision-making Feb. 16 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Denver.
Speakers addressed the implications for science of the controversy created by publication of "The Skeptical Environmentalist" by Bjorn Lomborg. "The book was immediately followed by an unprecedented mobilization of environmental advocates against the book, its author and publisher, the reverberations of which are still continuing," Pielke said.听
"Increasingly, we're seeing debate that pretends to be over scientific issues, but that are really political battles employing advertising and public relations campaigns instead of reasoned argument," said Pielke. "These tactics discredit science and detract from what science has to offer policy makers and society," he said.
"But the Lomborg affair merits attention not because of its criticisms, character assassination and pressure politics -- these are nothing new -- but because its extremeness may mark a watershed in how science relates to policy and politics," Pielke said.听
"Science is increasingly the battlefield on which political advocates, lawyers and commercial interests manipulate facts to their preferred direction, which fosters the politicization of science," Pielke said. The panel will continue to explore the politicization of science across a range of issues.
The symposium at the Denver Convention Center was part of the AAAS annual meeting in Denver this year Feb. 13 to Feb. 18.
In addition to Pielke, speakers included Chris Harrison of Cambridge University Press, the book's publisher; Naomi Oreskes of the University of California-San Diego; and Charles Herrick of Stratus Consulting, Inc.
Other speakers included Daniel Sarewitz of Columbia University's Center for Science, Policy and Outcomes and Susan Avery, director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, or CIRES, at CU-葫芦娃视频.
"The trend is not without consequence," Pielke said. Symposium participants discussed the consequences and possible alternatives.
The Center for Science and Technology Policy Research is part of CIRES, a joint institute of CU-葫芦娃视频 and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.听
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