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An opinion piece that basically says “it’s complicated” is hardly the argument they’re making it out to be. Consider me unconvinced and still concerned about th

An opinion piece that basically says “it’s complicated” is hardly the argument they’re making it out to be. Consider me unconvinced and still concerned about the climate.

aliswe 4y ago
> Mr. Koonin is a professor at New York University, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and author of “Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters.” Maybe when an accredited scientist speaks about his field, you should at least listen? learnt nothing from the pandemic?
- iudqnolq 4y ago
  > From 2004 to 2009, Koonin was employed by BP as the oil and gas company’s Chief Scientist. From 2009 to 2011, he was Under Secretary for Science, Department of Energy, in the Obama administration. Someone like that isn't just a scientist any more, they're a politician and senior manager. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it's deceptive to leave it out.
- quantified 4y ago
  From wikipedia, if they are to be believed: Steven E. Koonin is an American theoretical physicist and former director of the Center for Urban Science and Progress at New York University. He is also a professor in the Department of Civil and Urban Engineering at NYU's Tandon School of Engineering Interestingly, the chief scientist at BP is also named Steven Koonin, according to LinkedIn. While there may be hype, don't take his writing to mean "tune out concerns about the ice sheets in Antartica" or anywhere. 1 out of 5 dentists recommended sugar-laden gum to chew, and I heard a weather scientist say over lunch to me once that atmospheric gases don't trap heat significantly. Real scientists cast doubt on the connection of smoking to cancer too.
- shakezula 4y ago
  Koonin has been repeatedly criticized by his peers for cherry picking data, misrepresentation of facts, and “muddying the waters” of the climate science debate. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_E._Koonin#Criticism_of_Koonin's_2014_Wall_Street_Journal_commentary https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_E._Koonin#Criticism_o... I’m not going to sit and listen to one dissenting voice when a mountain of evidence and their peers contradict them. It’s funny you bring up the pandemic, because this is exactly the same type of politicization the pandemic brought to science. Did /you/ learn nothing?
  - starkd 4y ago
    He is not the lone voice of dissent. There's also Shellenberger and Bjorn Lomborg. The fact that they do not share the same panicked attitude about the climate science does not mean they no longer care about the issue. They are only saying that it is manageable without severe disruptions to the economy.
starkd 4y ago
He wasn't making an argument. He was simply putting the latest news in some context and saying there's no reason to panic. A position a number of other environmentalists have arrived at as well. A perfectly sane position.

An opinion piece that basically says “it’s complicated” is hardly the argument they’re making it out to be. Consider me unconvinced and still concerned about the climate.

aliswe 4y ago

> Mr. Koonin is a professor at New York University, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and author of “Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters.” Maybe when an accredited scientist speaks about his field, you should at least listen? learnt nothing from the pandemic?

iudqnolq 4y ago
> From 2004 to 2009, Koonin was employed by BP as the oil and gas company’s Chief Scientist. From 2009 to 2011, he was Under Secretary for Science, Department of Energy, in the Obama administration. Someone like that isn't just a scientist any more, they're a politician and senior manager. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it's deceptive to leave it out.
quantified 4y ago
From wikipedia, if they are to be believed: Steven E. Koonin is an American theoretical physicist and former director of the Center for Urban Science and Progress at New York University. He is also a professor in the Department of Civil and Urban Engineering at NYU's Tandon School of Engineering Interestingly, the chief scientist at BP is also named Steven Koonin, according to LinkedIn. While there may be hype, don't take his writing to mean "tune out concerns about the ice sheets in Antartica" or anywhere. 1 out of 5 dentists recommended sugar-laden gum to chew, and I heard a weather scientist say over lunch to me once that atmospheric gases don't trap heat significantly. Real scientists cast doubt on the connection of smoking to cancer too.
shakezula 4y ago
Koonin has been repeatedly criticized by his peers for cherry picking data, misrepresentation of facts, and “muddying the waters” of the climate science debate. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_E._Koonin#Criticism_of_Koonin's_2014_Wall_Street_Journal_commentary https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_E._Koonin#Criticism_o... I’m not going to sit and listen to one dissenting voice when a mountain of evidence and their peers contradict them. It’s funny you bring up the pandemic, because this is exactly the same type of politicization the pandemic brought to science. Did /you/ learn nothing?
- starkd 4y ago
  He is not the lone voice of dissent. There's also Shellenberger and Bjorn Lomborg. The fact that they do not share the same panicked attitude about the climate science does not mean they no longer care about the issue. They are only saying that it is manageable without severe disruptions to the economy.

starkd 4y ago

He wasn't making an argument. He was simply putting the latest news in some context and saying there's no reason to panic. A position a number of other environmentalists have arrived at as well. A perfectly sane position.