Politics of Global Warming?

Question

Politicizing of Science with respect to global warming--anyone have any thoughts? Good or bad?

For some time now I have felt that the politicizing of global warming has done no good for scientific discovery and advancement. With politics comes passionate viewpoints--hard held beliefs. As the GW movement has gained more credence with politicians, multinationals, and people all over the world, some have become so entrenched with their beliefs that their entire career is based upon the validity of the AGW theory. And not just scientists, but politicians, businesses, organizations, and regular folk too. So they do whatever they can to make sure that the "consensus" is upheld.

Answer 1

AGW has made a laughingstock of the environmental movement.  Now there are questions about hard-won battles (like lead and mercury) that don't need to be re-opened.

Most people don't care one way or another about global warming, except that they like warm weather.

The politics are that despite all the press and promises and meetings in Bali ... nothing is going to happen.  Countries will use energy as they see fit.  (Look at how many countries have reneged on Kyoto.)

"Consensus" in science is nothing more than application of Occam's razor to data.  Whatever explanation is the shortest, that explains the data, is used henceforth.  Even if people know the model isn't quite true and correct.

There is no theory that explains previous glaciation cycles in our current ice age.  So the shortest explanation is whatever caused previous glaciations and warmings, is at work now.

Claiming that mankind is perturbing the current cycle beyond doubt, without any explanation of previous cycles ... is kind of ridiculous.

If anyone thinks the Inquisition, Joe McCarthy, Hitler, Salem Witch trials, etc. were just anomalies in  history and we are too civilized to repeat them, think again.

Answer 2

It's bad. People are getting paid thousand of pounds a day to write papers based on lies and/or weak science, but people who tell us the truth are all paid by big oil companies apparently. Science should welcome new theories and test them out, not be motivated by grants and be hijacked by scaremongers who want our taxes.

Answer 3

The politics of Global Warming  is about fear mongering people into lifestyle change.

Answer 4

You pretty much have things backwards.  Global Warming has been established science for more than 100 years.  In the 1970's one goofy guy (not a climatologist) wrote a book saying the experts were wrong and an ice age was coming instead.  He said global warming was unproven and fake, founding the DENIER/skeptic movement.  In 2000, George Bush declared "the jury is still out on global warming" lending legitimacy to what had been up to then a crackpot idea.  Those are the events which politicized global warming.

Answer 5

So, now in your mind all the scientific organizations around the world are politicizing the science. Sounds like you're a conspiracy theorist. Trying to rationalize your beliefs by painting science with a conspiracy brush won't help you.

Answer 6

There is very little science in AGW.  People with left wing political ideas just need to look into their hearts and they know that capitalism is wrong, that the corporations have been irresponsibly poisoning the Earth for their own selfish ends and all these gasses we are pouring into the atmosphere are killing the Earth.  

People already know what they want to believe and for people who want to believe in AGW, there really is no need for scientific proof - it's right there in their hearts.