Science Magazine Goes Political!

Vice President Albert Gore, Science 1996;272:321- 452

Here Vice President Gore editorializes against efforts by the 104th Congress to trim science "pork" in the federal budget. I don't really care, but what's this doing in Science? I've included it here because I find some of his rhetoric entertaining. In particular, the Vice President states

This society bases regulation on suspicion instead of science, says that DDT isn't harmful, and claims that global warming is the empirical equivalent of the Easter Bunny.

I've got to say that the Vice President is partially right, although I'm sure he didn't really mean it.

This society does base regulation on suspicion instead of science-- suspicion fueled by junk science. If our society based regulation on legitimate science, maybe the 104th Congress would be less inclined to take money away from a system it perceives to produce too much junk science.

Also, the Vice president has conveniently overlooked the fact that the use of DDT was, and continues to be, one of the most important public health measures of the 20th century. DDT has perhaps prevented tens of millions of cases of serious disease and death, well worth the price of some thinning bird egg shells.

The global warming comment is humorous for two reasons. Recently, Science published an article by Jonathan Overpeck of the Paleoclimatology Program of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) about paleoclimatic data from ice cores and sediments. These data indicate that the climate system is capable of switching between different modes (i.e., warming and cooling) naturally, suggesting that climatic surprises may be ahead. [Science. 1996; 271:1820-1821]. Overpeck concludes the article by stating

Major warm climate surprises of the type apparent in the Holocene interglacial paleoclimatic record may be our biggest worry in the years to come.

Lastly, the Vice President lives in Washington, D.C., where we've just spent what seems like an eternity in the worst winter anyone can remember. You'd think that he'd welcome a little global warming. I know I would.

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