Former astronaut speaks out on global warming

[Chris_]

Former astronaut speaks out on global warming

SANTA FE, N.M. - Former astronaut Harrison Schmitt, who walked on the moon and once served New Mexico in the U.S. Senate, doesn’t believe that humans are causing global warming.

"I don’t think the human effect is significant compared to the natural effect," said Schmitt, who is among 70 skeptics scheduled to speak next month at the International Conference on Climate Change in New York.

Schmitt contends that scientists "are being intimidated" if they disagree with the idea that burning fossil fuels has increased carbon dioxide levels, temperatures and sea levels.

"They’ve seen too many of their colleagues lose grant funding when they haven’t gone along with the so-called political consensus that we’re in a human-caused global warming," Schmitt said.

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What???  Science following the money?  Say it ain't so!!!111!!

[thundley4]

"They’ve seen too many of their colleagues lose grant funding when they haven’t gone along with the so-called political consensus that we’re in a human-caused global warming," Schmitt said."

And this will only get worse under the 0Bamessiah.

[DumbAss Tanker]

It's a well-known conundrum of modern sceintific research that if there is grant money to research the relationship of variable A to some publicly-perceived crisis, there will sure as Hell be research establishing that A does indeed contribute to the crisis, and also concluding that more study money is necessary to nail it down.

    

[JohnnyReb]

It's a well-known conundrum of modern sceintific research that if there is grant money to research the relationship of variable A to some publicly-perceived crisis, there will sure as Hell be research establishing that A does indeed contribute to the crisis, and also concluding that more study money is necessary to nail it down.

    

....and no matter how many nails are purchased, they are never enough to complete the job.

[docstew]

isn't that just a variation on the consulting thing?  the one that says: "If you hire me at $100k/yr to fix a problem, I'll guarantee you it'll never get fixed."?

[DumbAss Tanker]

Similar, doc, but a somewhat more insidious problem.  There is an endless supply of consultants, and absorbing them into make-work doesn't do any harm except increase overhead, which ultimately helps the competitive process by loading down the poorer competitors with these millstones.  Primary scientific research assets are more finite, though, and soaking them up in 'fashionable' subjects does considerably more harm.