Canada’s #1 Social Problem: There Aren’t Any More Social Problems
What’s worse than being a fat, polluting, racist, ignorant jerk? That’s easy, not knowing you are one. And what’s worse than even that? Being in a society full of people…
Social
Us and Them: The Psychology Behind the Heartland Institute Billboards
Leo-blog–The-Heartland-I-007.jpg The Heartland Institute’s jaw-droppingly ill-advised, and now withdrawn billboard campaign—pictured here—has drawn a huge volume of denunciations in the last week. There’s not much more to say substantively about…
A View From Nowhere? The Case Against Knee-Jerk Centrism When It Comes to Politics and Science
n_hayes_gopuniteso_120505.jpg Debate over The Republican Brain is mounting, as emotional (and highly extraverted?) conservatives fling meaningless attacks at the book—attacks so off target it’s doubtful in most cases that the…
A Genetic Justification For Liberalism
It’s little wonder that liberalism endorses science when no other ideology is more endorsed by it. Foundational liberal principles have been recently strengthened by new research, solidifying the ideology not…
Got Framing? Why Scientists Must Pay Attention to Communication Science, and Not Just as an Afterthought
dont_tread_on_me.jpg There was the Tweet, from Andy Revkin: “Scientists Call For Stronger Global Governance To Address Climate Change.” Revkin linked to a Forbes story, that, in turn, linked to a…
Opposing Labour & Other Bad Driving Habits
Nowadays people oppose strikes like they drive a car. It’s not about the all the people going forward anymore, it’s only about one person getting where they want to go.…
Don’t Blame the Victims: Why Public Outreach By Climate Scientists is More Vital Than Ever
speakout.jpg In the last few years—and especially in the wake of the ClimateGate pseudo-scandal—climate researchers have become much more politically engaged. They’ve sought to become better at communication, and to…
We All Lose In BC Teacher Labour Dispute
Who will win in the latest labour dispute between BC teachers and the provincial government? It doesn’t matter, we are already losing. Now a politician isn’t going to tell a…
A Call to Support Michael Mann
hockeybookmann.jpg I've been a great ally of my latest Point of Inquiry guest Michael Mann, and even called him a climate hero. I've blurbed his new book, saying the following:…
In Which Climate “Skeptics” Drop the Lysenko Bomb. No, I’m Not Kidding….
Lysenko_in_field_with_wheat.jpg There has been a much justified uproar over last week’s Wall Street Journal op-ed, in which a group of scientific “skeptics” reiterate the old line that we don’t have…
Slack-tivists All
People who click “like” on Facebook to show support for a cause are slacktivists, you on the other hand with your “Support Our Troops” bumper sticker, breast cancer ribbon fleece…
Who’s Afraid of Kerry Emanuel? Why Republicans Are Attacking a Republican Climate Scientist
kerry emanuel.jpg Last week, MIT climate scientist and hurricane specialist Kerry Emanuel received email threats for his view on climate change. These were quickly and appropriately condemned by the progressive…
How to Get a Liberal to Deny Climate Science (Yes, It Can Happen)
geoengineering_diagram1-660×439.jpg Regular readers of my posts will know that I’ve often focused on the work of Yale’s Dan Kahan and his colleagues, who have published fascinating research on how our…
The Climate-Media Paradox: More Coverage, Stalled Progress
who speaks for the climate.jpg For those of us who care about global warming, 2006 and 2007 felt like pretty good years. Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize for…
The Science of Debiasing: The New “Debunking Handbook” Is a Treasure Trove For Defenders of Reason
dbh_large.gif For quite some time here at DeSmogBlog, I’ve been writing about the growing science of irrationality—in other words, our ever-better scientific understanding of why people reject clearly correct information.…
Why Ethical Oil’s Deceptive ‘Women’s Rights’ Defense of Tar Sands is Insulting and Wrong
ethicaloil.org_.jpg EthicalOil.org’s new spokesperson, Kathryn Marshall, authored an insulting piece this week on the Huffington Post titled "Care About Women's Rights? Support Eth...
Why Hard Core Climate “Skeptics” Don’t Change Their Minds
Muller001.jpg I’ve been watching with interest the blogosphere uproar over the release of results from the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature project centered around physicist Richard Mulle...
Why Communicating Science is So Money
schmidt2-300x300.jpg I’ve been meaning to thrown in my congratulations to Gavin Schmidt of NASA and RealClimate.org, who is the first recipient of the American Geophysical Union’s new...
Want to Sway Climate Change Skeptics? Ask About Their Personal Strengths (And Show Pictures!)
509983main_adjusted_annual_temperature_anomalies_final.gif Readers of my posts over the last half year will be familiar with the phenomenon of motivated reasoning, in which people’s subcons...
Why Questionable "Science" Gets Published, Pounced On in the Media, Retracted, Causes Resignations…Rinse and Repeat
scientific journals.JPG An editor resigns after a journal publishes a paper that seems to trash the scientific consensus on climate change—but is heavily criticized by top scientists. Where...