Category Archives: advocacy

Isn’t this also kind of an own goal?

Posted on April 30, 2017 by

Yesterday’s post was about the recent New York Time’s (NYT) Op-Ed by Bret Stephens. Some people, including a number of climate scientists, are sufficiently disappointed in this that they’re publicly cancelling their NYT subscriptions. Tom Yulsman, a journalism professor and … Continue reading →

Posted in advocacy, ClimateBall, Personal, Scientists | Tagged , , , , , | 149 Comments

We might not be certain, but…..

Posted on April 29, 2017 by

Bret Stephens, the newly appointed Op-Ed writer for the New York Times, has released his first column to much criticism. It’s a rather strawman-laden column in which he essentially argues that it’s okay to doubt climate science, and/or climate policy, … Continue reading →

Posted in advocacy, Climate change, Climate sensitivity, ClimateBall, Global warming, Policy, Science, Severe Events, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , , , | 144 Comments

A day of activism … sort of

Posted on April 22, 2017 by

I discovered via Rachel’s blog that today was Pedal on Parliament 2017 (Scotland, only). Rachel has a new post about the event in Abereen. It’s also the day for the Marches for Science. So, we thought we’d go and spend … Continue reading →

Posted in advocacy, Climate change, Science, Scientists | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

Democratising science

Posted on March 28, 2017 by

I got into a brief discussion on Twitter about democratising science, which some people seemed to think was a good idea. One thing I was trying to do was simply to work out what people meant. I’m still not sure, … Continue reading →

Posted in advocacy, Politics, Research, Science, Sound Science (tm), The philosophy of science, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , , , | 68 Comments

Advocacy and scientific credibility

Posted on March 4, 2017 by

To the surprise of few, I suspect, it appears that scientists can advocate without damaging their, or the scientific community’s, credibility. It’s reported in this paper, [d]oes Engagement in Advocacy Hurt the Credibility of Scientists? and is discussed in this … Continue reading →

Posted in advocacy, ethics, Policy, Politics, Research, Science, The philosophy of science, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , | 56 Comments

Why I find it difficult to discuss climate policy

Posted on September 13, 2016 by

I generally try to avoid discussing climate policy specifically. One obvious reason is that I don’t have any particular expertise in that area, or any special insights. However, there is a somewhat subtler reason as to why I find it … Continue reading →

Posted in advocacy, Climate change, ClimateBall, Policy, Science | Tagged , , , | 69 Comments

Climate targets

Posted on April 10, 2016 by

Oliver Geden is a climate/energy policy analyst at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. I’ve written before about Oliver Geden’s views and have, typically, been rather unimpressed by what he presents. He’s even accussed me of misrepresenting him, … Continue reading →

Posted in advocacy, Climate change, Global warming, Policy, Science | Tagged , , , , , , | 124 Comments