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But Plait rolls out the "97% of climate scientists" not only sans asterisk, but doubles down on it with an opinion piece.
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A link to an entire article detailing his views on the study is like a super-asterisk, not sans-asterisk.
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There is no reason to engage a politician if we are doing science.
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There is reason to engage politicians if the politics are attacking the science.
Most scientists don't have the temperament or inclination to do it, which is why there appears to be a "debate".
The self-contained "pox on both their houses" attitude is what the "merchants of doubt" are going for. Just like with smoking and lung cancer, all they need is to make it seem like the jury's still out as long as possible, so let's keep the status quo. You may feel outside the "orange-purple" debate by pointing out exaggerations on both sides, but that just leaves you supporting "team purple's" policies, whatever you say about their rhetoric.
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Real scientists don't have a side in this game because there is no SIDE in science!!! other than truth,
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All that leaves you with is defining anyone who you can actually hear from as not worth listening to. If a scientist decides to spend their time countering scientific misconceptions in the media, suddenly they're not a scientist, and they have no more credibility than Huckabee.