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March 20, 2006
Politicizing science?
by Sylvia S Tognetti
No time for substantive blogging over the next few days but there is an interesting comment thread on a post of Roger Pielke's from last week, here, where Benny Peiser actually admits to a mistake! For background on Peiser, see this post from several months ago, and links therein to Tim Lambert's site. But there are also some substantive comments from several others including yours truly, on issues of uncertainty, the role of NAS committees, and on the legitimacy, or not, of including the perspective of so-called sceptics in scientific debate.
Another link from the past week that I never got around to blogging - and a must read for anyone who questions the need for environmental and any other scientists engaged in science intended to inform policy to role up their sleeves and actually get involved in politics is this post at Effect Measure - a public health blog -which states:
Public health has the word "public" in it. It is by its nature political and we are political as a consequence. We make no apologies for this. We interpret public health broadly to take in all those cooperative activities done for the health, well-being and fulfillment of our communities. While we are writing for our colleagues in public health, we include as colleagues many people in walks of life or with personal commitments not ordinarily considered public health workers. Hotel and restaurant workers, at all levels, for example, because they have expertise in caring for and feeding people who might otherwise have no shelter or prepared food. "Hotel" and "hospital" are words with a common root, places where shelter was provided for travelers, strangers and the sick. Likewise teachers, sanitation workers, water utility workers, and many others, are all engaged in tasks that can provide for the common good. In a crisis we will all need each other's help and each other's expertise.
As someone who once got sick from drinking water served at a conference on the role of watersheds in providing freshwater, I speak from experience when I say that environment is critical to public health - but unlike others, I could return home to a safe water supply. Over one billion people without access to safe drinking water sounds to me like a disaster worse than a few hurricanes. In addition to which, one third of the world's population is expected to face major water shortages within the next 20 years. Climate has something to do with that too... Speaking of which, there is also a World Water Forum taking place in Mexico City, for which you can find coverage here, courtesy of IISD.
Posted by Sylvia S Tognetti at March 20, 2006 12:50 PM