NewsTrust - Science - Most Recent Stories: Opinion (Independent)

The Sad Race for Bottom on the Loony Right

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

AlterNet - By Robert Reich - Feb. 28 (Opinion) - even if they lose the presidency on Election Day they’re still likely to be in charge of at least one house of Congress as well as several state legislators and governorships. That’s a problem for the nation.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.2 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Nobel-Winning IPCC Chair Rajendra Pachauri Urges Obama To "Listen to Science" on Global Warming

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Dec. 07 (Interview) - One of the world’s most prominent experts on climate science, Rajendra Pachauri, is criticizing negotiators at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Durban for not paying enough attention to science. Pachauri is chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize along with Al Gore. "What we have done is we have increased the concentration of these greenhouse gases in the atmosphere far beyond what has taken place over the last 650,000 years," Pachauri says. "As a result, during the 20th century, we had average warming of about 0.74 degrees Celsius, sea-level rise of about 17 centimeters, and a whole range of impacts, as I mentioned, on human health, on agriculture, on ecosystems... The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report had clearly brought out that if we want to limit temperature increase to two degrees or thereabouts, two to 2.4 degrees Celsius, and if we want to do it at least cost, then emissions will have to peak no later than 2015.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The brutal logic of climate change

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Grist - By David Roberts - Dec. 06 (Opinion) - The consensus in American politics today is that there's nothing to be gained from talking about climate change. It's divisive, the electorate has more pressing concerns, and very little can be accomplished anyway. In response to this evolving consensus, lots of folks in the climate hawk coalition ( broadly speaking ) have counseled a new approach that backgrounds climate change and refocuses the discussion on innovation, energy security, and economic competitiveness. This cannot work. At least it cannot work if we hope to avoid terrible consequences. Why not? It's simple: If there is to be any hope of avoiding civilization-threatening climate disruption, the U.S. and other nations must act immediately and aggressively on an unprecedented scale . That means moving to emergency footing. War footing. "Hitler is on the march and our survival is at stake" footing. That simply won't be possible unless a critical mass of people are on board.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.5 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Special Investigation: Who’s Behind the “Information Attacks” on Climate Scientists?

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Think Progress - By Climate Guest Blogger - Nov. 01 (Opinion) - by Sue Sturgis, in an Institute for Southern Studies repost This week, in a courtroom in Prince William County, Virginia, a hearing will take place that could have implications for the privacy rights of scientists at colleges and universities across the country. It’s part of a lawsuit brought by the American Tradition Institute, a free-market [...]

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

A Confraternity of the Fatherless

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0700

thehumanist.org - By Rebecca Goldstein - Nov. 01 (Speech) - When I think about religion at all, I feel as if I would like to found an order for those who cannot believe: the Confraternity of the Fatherless one might call it, where on an altar, on which no taper burned, a priest, in whose heart peace had no dwelling, might celebrate with unblessed bread and a chalice empty of wine. And as I look around, I feel like we are a realization of poor Oscar Wilde’s wistful fantasy—this order of those who can’t believe, the Confraternity of the Fatherless. And I wonder about the ambiguity of this phrase, “can’t believe.” Is this inability to believe an incapacity or is it an endowment? Is it a sign of failure or is it a sign of strength?

NewsTrust Rating: 4.5 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The War Against Climate Science Unravels

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Kelly Rigg - Oct. 24 (Opinion) - For those who have ever put the skeptic arguments to the test, it has always been clear their criticisms rarely stand up to even the most basic level of academic rigor. But last week's study delivered a decisive blow to the edifice of climate skepticism.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.7 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

When politicians distort science...and outright reject it.

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

thebulletin.org - By Robert Socolow - Oct. 20 (Opinion) - We must not underestimate the threat now looming. Another age of darkness could lie ahead. In what may someday be called the Science Wars, our opponents present science as dogma and construct a symmetric conflict: their dogma vs. our dogma.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Called Anti-Science, Rightbloggers Reply That Science is a Liberal Plot

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 23:09:32 -0700

Village Voice - Sep. 04 - GOP candidates like Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Santorum don't believe in evolution or global warming. Some people think that makes them anti-science. They have it backwards, say conservatives -- it's science that's anti-American!

NewsTrust Rating: 3.7 average - 4 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The Important Whoops, or Climategategate

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 20:47:17 -0700

The Moderate Voice - By HART WILLIAMS, Guest Voice Columnist - Sep. 02 (Opinion) - One of the nicest things about living in a world of grays, where one can change one's mind when presented with new facts, and when one doesn't jump to extreme and absolute conclusions based on some article of belief is the one tends to make an ass of one's self far less often. Case in point, the "peer-reviewed" science paper jumped on by the Usual Suspects just a couple of weeks past.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.7 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Fracking Caused the Virginia Earthquake, NOT!

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Writing Corner - By Beth Wellington - Aug. 31 (Interview) - Hurricane Irene, and before that Virginia's August 23 5.8 earthquake with its epicenter only eleven miles as the crow flies, from Dominion Energy's North Anna nuclear plant in Virginia. That date, with life imitating art, the Twitterverse and other social media, spread news of a faster than the quake itself. Unfortunately, the same media also spread misinformation, attributing the quake to fracking. The culprits included Alternet, Open Salon, OpEdNews, and the blog of the author (Stuart Jeanne Bramhall), The Most Revolutionary Act. And it spread from there.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.8 average - 5 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The Baloney Detection Kit

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

YouTube - By Michael Shermer - Jul. 06 (Opinion) - With a sea of information coming at us from all directions, how do we sift out the misinformation and bogus claims, and get to the truth? Michael Shermer of Skeptic Magazine lays out a "Baloney Detection Kit," ten questions we should ask when encountering a claim. The 10 Questions: 1. How reliable is the source of the claim? 2.Does the source make similar claims? 3. Have the claims been verified by somebody else? 4. Does this fit with the way the world works? 5. Has anyone tried to disprove the claim? 6. Where does the preponderance of evidence point? 7. Is the claimant playing by the rules of science? 8. Is the claimant providing positive evidence? 9. Does the new theory account for as many phenomena as the old theory? 10. Are personal beliefs driving the claim?

NewsTrust Rating: 4.1 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Beyond reasonable doubt: respecting the science - ABC Online

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 23:47:29 -0700

Australian Broadcasting - Jun. 29 - FRANCE 24Beyond reasonable doubt: respecting the scienceABC OnlineSince my appointment as Australia's Chief Scientist in late May I have inevitably been drawn into the debate surrounding climate change. While I took this role to advocate for all of science, the nature of the climate change debate allows me to ...Climate Change Skepticism Now Considered 'Harassment'?CommentaryAustralia's Fractious Climate DebatePRI's The WorldSkeptical scientists are not deniersThe Sudbury StarPlanetSave.com -Science Newsall 30 news articles »

NewsTrust Rating: 4.3 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

“Crappy Headline” Ruins New York Times Story on Link Between Climate Change and Extreme Weather

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Think Progress - By Joe Romm - Jun. 18 (Opinion) - .. I’m about to start writing a post criticizing the New York Times for the dreadful headline it ran on John Broder’s Thursday piece, “Scientists See More Deadly Weather, but Dispute the Cause,” when who should call me on the phone? Broder was calling for some comments on climate politics, as he does [...]

NewsTrust Rating: 3.5 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The Non-Science That Explains What’s Wrong with Science Explaining Non-Belief in Science

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Easily Distracted - By Easily Distracted - Apr. 26 (Opinion) - It is not irrational or unreasonable to regard scientific claims which recommend or insist upon particular public policy initiatives with sharply pronounced skepticism across the board. Not because science itself requires a particular form of skepticism (though it does) but because such skepticism is evidence-based, derived from the history of the relationship between policy, the modern state, and science, a history which even non-experts have often viscerally experienced or witnessed.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.7 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

3/4ths of Senate GOP Doesn't Believe in Science -- When Did Republicans Go Completely Off the Deep End?

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Robert Benson - Mar. 23 (Opinion) - You’ve got to go back to the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925 for a precedent to the anti-science mania that is currently sweeping the GOP. Then, the issue was teaching Darwin’s work on evolution in the schools. Today, the issue is global warming. Then, as now, large numbers of politicians tapped into the stratum of popular culture that simply rejects science as the basis for public or personal decisions.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.0 average - 9 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

An Anti-Science Mania Takes over GOP

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:12:00 -0700

Miller-McCune - By Robert Benson - Mar. 21 - The current vogue among a majority of national-level elected Republicans to reject the validity of the scientific consensus on climate change recalls the anti-evolutionary furor seen in the Scopes Monkey Trial.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.0 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Ann Coulter: 'Radiation is Actually Good For You' (Video)

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Talking Points Memo - By Meena Rupani - Mar. 18 (Opinion) - According to conservative columnist Ann Coulter, this whole Japanese nuclear crisis is overblown and "radiation is actually good for you" and the media isn't reporting its benefits enough. On The O'Reilly Factor last night, Coulter spoke about her recent column...

NewsTrust Rating: 3.3 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Sometimes You Feel Like A Nut; Sometimes You Don’t - Cupertino, CA Patch

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0800

patch.com - By Aimee McLendon - Mar. 11 (Opinion) - After rigorous study, scientists have concluded that laughter really is the best medicine.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.4 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Full Cost of Coal $500 Billion/Year in U.S., Harvard Study Finds

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Clean Technica - By Mark Tyler - Feb. 17 (Opinion) - The Harvard paper estimates that “the life cycle effects of coal and the waste stream generated are costing the U.S. public a third to over one-half of a trillion dollars annually.”

NewsTrust Rating: 3.7 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Misrepresenting Climate Science: Cherry-Picking Data to Hide the Disappearance of Arctic Ice

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Peter H. Gleick - Feb. 07 (Opinion) - Climate deniers cannot make a case against human-caused climate change without desperately manipulating, misrepresenting, or simply misunderstanding the science. While there are examples of their bad science (BS) every day, a particularly egregious case has played out in New Mexico in the past week.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.0 average - 12 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Incoming GOP House Chairs Plan to Investigate Climate Scientists, Probe Muslim "Radicalization," Repeal Health Care Reform

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman, Ryan Grim - Jan. 03 (Interview) - When the 112th Congress is sworn in on Wednesday, Republicans will hold a new-found edge in the House after four years in the minority. That means a field of Republican Congressmembers poised to helm the 23 House committees and their more than 100 subcommittees. Republicans have already promised a sweeping agenda, including investigating climate scientists, investigating "radicalization" in the Muslim community, and repealing President Obama's healthcare law. We speak with Ryan Grim, senior congressional correspondent for _The Huffington Post_.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

From Snowstorms to Heat Waves, How Global Warming Causes Extreme Weather and Climate Instability

Tue, 28 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Paul Epstein, Amy Goodman - Dec. 28 (Interview) - The East Coast is struggling to recover from the massive blizzard that slammed into hundreds cities and towns from the Carolinas to Maine. The storm was a grimly fitting end to 2010, which was characterized by extreme weather from start to finish with heat waves, floods, volcanoes, blizzards, landslides and droughts. While TV networks closely follow extreme weather events around the world, they rarely make the connection between extreme weather and global warming. We speak with Dr. Paul Epstein of Harvard University’s Center for Health and the Global Environment.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.3 average - 8 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Is oil and gas production causing earthquakes in Arkansas?

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Mother Nature Network - By Andrew Schenkel - Dec. 14 (Opinion) - Guy, Ark., has been hit with hundreds of earthquakes in the last few months, leaving many trying to figure out what is causing all the shaking.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Seth Shostak: Life, But Not As We Know It

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Seth Shostak - Dec. 06 (Opinion) - The import of the discovery of a new arsenic-based microbe is that finding life as we don't know it will give us a better shot at testing for biology on worlds that are, both by definition and in fact, truly alien.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.0 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Where is mathematics in Europe?

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

eurekalert.org - By Chloe Kembery - Dec. 02 (Opinion) - Europe needs an Institute of Industrial Mathematics to tighten the link between maths and industry as an enabler of innovation -- putting maths at the heart of Europe's innovation, according to the European Science Foundation, in a report launched today in Brussels at the "Maths and Industry" Conference.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.4 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer