By Jim Tankersley
President Obama is big on science.
He said as much on the campaign trail, where he ripped President George W. Bush for suppressing scientific debate in the federal government; in his transition to the White House, when he nominated Nobel Prize winning physicist Steven Chu to lead the energy department; and yesterday, when he rolled back Bush's limits on stem-cell research and issued a memo to strengthen the role of science in government decision-making.
Obama promised a cheering East Room crowd yesterday that those moves would "ensure that in this new administration, we base our public policies on the soundest science."
But in two early policy moves - on wolves and global warming - Obama has found scientists questioning the soundness of his decisions.
Obama has pushed Congress to limit the greenhouse gas emissions scientists blame for climate change - but the reduction targets he set out in his budget fall short of what many scientists say is needed to avert global catastrophe from warming.
Obama has done more in a month than his predecessors did in 20 years to combat climate change, said Bill McKibben, the co-founder of the climate advocacy group 350.org, which is pushing to limit carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million - an amount that would require a rapid shift away from coal power worldwide, McKibben says.
"One can't help but feel incredibly sorry for Obama," McKibben said. "The poor guy is trying hard on all sorts of fronts. And on this one, the trouble with his predicament is, unlike everything else - unlike auto unions or the American Medical Association or Citibank -- chemistry and physics don't compromise. They don't bargain. They don't meet you halfway."
The new administration last week backed a Bush-era decision to remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list in the Upper Midwest and much of the West, on the advice of federal scientists, but over the objections of many environmentalists.
"The case of wolves is a case where the science is very one-sided and very clear," said Andrew Wetzler, who heads the endangered species project of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "It doesn't mean that there isn't science on the other side, but (the science is) very biased toward the opinion that the wolves have not recovered."
Government scientists say the opposite. "The science is pretty rock-solid that the wolf population recovered," said Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service in Helena, Mont. "Wolves are very symbolic to people, and because of that, people tend to love them or hate them. What's that old saying? In war, the first casualty is truth."
Comments
Mr. Tankersley's world includes only 2 kinds of scientists--the kind that back Obama, and the kind that wish to move government policy even futher to the left. Which reflects the split among Swamp journalists, who are divided between Obama Democrats, and even-further-Left Democrats.
The real world contains lots of scientists who (to give one example of many) disagree with Obama's climate tax policy as potentially bankrupting the U.S. for no significant effect on climate. Scientists whose views the bankrupt LibTrib censors.
Posted by: Change You Can Believe In | March 10, 2009 12:05 PM
This is a pathetic article. It makes it look like Obama is overreaching the scientific facts when he's actually just taking the Bush reversals slower than the base would like.
http://www.political-buzz.com/
Posted by: matt | March 10, 2009 1:10 PM
More journalistic pap from the world's worst "news"paper, the Chicago Obune.
Jim, thousands upon thousands of scientists say global warming is nonsense. In fact, many scientists who once believed global warming was taking place are now skeptical. This link from discovery.com explains that global cooling has "flatlined since 2001 and may be on pause for decades." While this article doesn't say global warming is not fact, it certainly says that Earth's temperature patterns "confound" experts.
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/03/02/global-warming-pause.html
Fact remains, the Earth has its own temperature trends that are out of our control. From the mid 1300s to the mid 1800s Earth was in the midst of a mini ice age. Since the mini ice age ended in the mid 1800s, temps warmed a bit, which makes sense when coming out of an ice age. Now temps have flatlined and in the past couple of years FALLEN!!
Posted by: John D | March 10, 2009 1:13 PM
Wow, another hit-job from the "liberal media". This article is just plain stupid but it does prove a point of mine...
The Wingnuts are frustrated because in their minds the office of President should always be held by a Republican. God told them so and so did Newt and Rush back in the 90's when they were busy raking Bill Clinton over the coals.
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUdZnxtKR2A
Posted by: Change We Do Believe In | March 10, 2009 2:29 PM
The one thing I can be sure of is john D was insufficiently educated to be able to distinguish fact from opinion. Even on subjects were there may be some concurrance, he is so intemperate that it is hard to take him seriously.
Global climate change is like the evolution debate, the facts lie on one side but they are not sufficient to close the book on the issue. Since the downside on being wrong so much favor the climate warming folks it would be imprudent to not go along with them. Rather than opposing them the best course is to moderate them.
To suppose this world is a continuum when everything in it seems to change is absurd. On the other hand to assume that there is not come cyclicality to these changes also seems illogical. It takes time to get people to move so being a tepid supporter of global warming seems wisest. Of the two ideologies it is the closer to prudent.
Posted by: Ron M | March 10, 2009 2:58 PM
Ron M, sorry, but I am able to distinguish fact from opinion. The FACT is that alleged global warming is just that: alleged. The FACT remains that the global warming science is not FACT, but speculation, theory. The FACT remains that this planet has a history of temperature changes, from ice ages to non ice ages. The FACT remains that many scientists say the warming that took place is a direct result in an increase in solar storms and solar flares. The FACT remains that in the past two years, solar storms and flares have subsided and, hence, Earth's temps have flatlined and even fallen in that time as well. The FACT remains, as noted in the www.discovery.com article, temps have flatlined and even fallen the past couple of years and very well could be a trend in the coming decades. The FACT remains that as the article noted, Earth's temps "confound" the experts. The FACT remains that man cannot do anything about temperature cycles if those cycles are due to the planet's and the solar system's own whims. What I just stated is FACT, not my opinion.
Posted by: John D | March 10, 2009 5:45 PM
Johnny dimwit....there is a special name for guys like you.....we call the tards. Really. You do realize that your link to support your views actually opposes your statements. Ohh, I see how crafty you tried to write your post, but it just proves what a deciever you actually are. You are the type of person that confronts a delema with preconcieved solution, and then tries to mold the evidence to support your flawed views. If anyone wants a good laugh, hit up johnny dimwit's link and read the last two paragraphs of the article. Maybe johnny dimwit did not make it that far in the article.
Posted by: Xcellentform | March 10, 2009 7:12 PM
Obama wants to use the man-made global warming pseudo science to impose communism/socialism on us.
Thinking people all over the world are realizing that man-made global warming is a hoax that threatens our future and the future of our children. More than 650 international scientists dissented last year over the man-made global warming claims. They are more than 12 times the number of UN scientists (52) who authored the media-hyped IPCC 2007 Summary for Policymakers. http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=2674e64f-802a-23ad-490b-bd9faf4dcdb7
Additionally, more than 31,000 American scientists have signed onto a petition that states, "There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth’s atmosphere and disruption of the Earth’s climate…" http://www.petitionproject.org/index.html
"Progressive" (communist) politicians like Obama seem determined to force us to swallow the man-made global warming scam. We need to defend ourselves from the UN and these politicians, who threaten our future and the future of our children. Based on a lie, they have already wasted billions and plan to increase taxes, limit development, and enslave us.
If not stopped, the global warming scam will enrich the scammers (Gore and Obama’s Wall Street friends), increase the power of the U.N. and communists like Obama, and multiply poverty and servitude for the rest of us.
Posted by: AntonioSosa | March 10, 2009 11:58 PM
I'm with you, John D. Of course the name-calling is expected from the so-called highly educated left. Don't sweat it. Global warming is another manufactured crisis that the left uses to hypnotize the mindless fools who follow without question. History, indeed, repeats itself!
Posted by: Buddy | March 11, 2009 12:05 AM
NonXcellent, in the article's last two paragraphs Swanson says the cooling may last for another 30 years and then he believes warming will come back with a gusto! Mr. Idiot for Life (hey Libune Swamp Censor thugs, if this moron can call me a retard and dimwit and whatever, then I can call him an idiot, moron and whatever), these so-called scientists are confounded (by their own admission) to the fact that temps have stabilized and fallen in recent years. It would stand to reason to anyone with a brain, which obviously excludes Idiot for Life NonXcellent Form, that if experts are surprised and confounded by temperatures TODAY, how can they possibly predict temperatures 30 years from now??
There is NO global warming (at least the manmade kind). It's all a lie and morons like NonXcellent Form are too stupid and ignorant to realize reality!
Posted by: John D | March 11, 2009 2:48 AM
Science only is important to Obama when it allows him to look smarter than everybody else. But on questions that science should weigh in on – such as, what to do with nuclear waste that is piling up at sites throughout the country – Obama prefers to pander for votes and let politics outweigh science. I know a number of you actually are flabbergasted that anyone could ever choose to vote against Obama because "he won" in 2008. But for those of us with a lick of sense, we remember that Nevada will again be a battleground state in 2012.
Posted by: JB | March 11, 2009 5:47 PM
Way to pout johny dimwit. First off, every "quote" that you say is in the article is distorted and not a true quote. Second; Do you hold the same views of our stock market? A few years of downturn means that we will always be down or flat? Anyone with any intellect at all knows that number graphs never go in straight lines, and many of them have an occasional dip down, but trend up. I think tickle-me-terri would tell you to go to your local community college and take statistical analysis 101 class.
Posted by: Xcellentform | March 12, 2009 10:16 AM