Scientists urged to step to plate on climate politics

Money and politics, the stuff of social science, now drive global warming, and climate science needs to get with it, a National Research Council report suggests.

“Demand is growing for credible, understandable and useful information for responding to climate change,” says the report, called Restructuring Federal Climate Research to Meet the Challenges of Climate Change. The report, released Thursday, calls for “transformation” of climate science to emphasize the climate’s influence on food, economics and public health.

Otherwise, there’s lots of evidence that politicians will tackle such practical problems without scientists.

In his speech to Congress last week, for example, President Obama asked his audience “to truly transform our economy, protect our security, and save our planet from the ravages of climate change.” The Senate and House had hearings last week that explored the economics of climate change.

And the Center for Public Integrity reported that about 2,340 climate change lobbyists, advocating for everything from more nuclear reactors to money for saving coral reefs, have found employment since 2008.

USA Today