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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (June 7, 2017)
2 Wednesday, June 7, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O Red-teaming climate is not a good choice WELCOME SISTERS RODEO By Phil Ganter and Mary Ann Asson-Batres Guest Columnists PARTICIPANTS & PATRONS! Letters to the Editor… The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer’s name, address and phone number. Let- ters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday. To the Editor: The Kiwanis Club of Sisters thanks every- one who donated and everyone who shopped at our 6th annual Antiques & Bling Sale this year. This year, Kiwanis had a banner sale, mak- ing this event one of our biggest fundraisers of the year. We could not do this without com- munity support. Every dollar raised remains in this community, given back in the form of college scholarships, career opportunities, and other civic projects. Thank you, Sisters folks, for your generosity! Karen Keady s s s To the Editor: Thank you, Linda Peck, for your letter to the editor (regarding skydiving). Very truth- ful in what you stated. Shame on you city of Sisters residents that chased this business away — when we clearly need it, more busi- ness more people move in and everybody receives the benefit, schools, taxes, (although they are very high) and so on. It is sad that we have people that narrow-minded. I don’t think the skydiving business made that much noise — not any more than we have other functions in town that make a tremen- dous amount of noise. Just saying. Shannon Chesney s s s To the Editor: Praise for the creative, humorous analogy comparing the media to “media” rats digging around in the dirt. For what? For the truth? Then they scurry around to inform everyone. See LETTERS on page 17 Sisters Weather Forecast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Slt. chance t-storm Showers Showers Showers Mostly cloudy Mostly sunny 64/41 57/35 55/34 58/34 65/na 85/51 The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. Website: www.nuggetnews.com 442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, Oregon 97759 Tel: 541-549-9941 | Fax: 541-549-9940 | editor@nuggetnews.com Postmaster: Send address changes to The Nugget Newspaper, P.O. Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759. Third Class Postage Paid at Sisters, Oregon. N Publisher - Editor: Kiki Dolson News Editor: Jim Cornelius Production Manager: Leith Easterling Classifieds & Circulation: Teresa Mahnken Advertising: Karen Kassy Graphic Design: Jess Draper Proofreader: Pete Rathbun Accounting: Erin Bordonaro The Nugget is mailed to residents within the Sisters School District; subscriptions are available outside delivery area. 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We are writing in response to The Nugget column posted by Craig Rullman in the Wednesday, April 26, issue of The Nugget. There are no simple answers to scientific ques- tions. No easy black or white indicators of “truth.” Lots of argument and controversy swirl around scientific questions until reproducible evidence comes in, and, even then, a complete resolution may lag. Sometimes, new evi- dence (data) can make us less sure. Such an unsure world can be overwhelming. Many who feel over- whelmed by science often refer to that univer- sal tool, common sense. Craig Rullman confesses to being overwhelmed by climate science and, in his search for a common sense approach, turns to Steven Koonin’s recom- mendation that the best way forward is to “Red Team” it. Koonin wants climate science to be the subject of public debates involv- ing a Red Team to attack the consensus on climate science against a Blue Team to rebut the Red Team. Common sense says that this will improve the situation. The idea that debate is the key to scientific prog- ress completely misses the point. To be sure, debate plays a role in sharpening arguments and establish- ing ideas about factors that “cause” outcomes, but such arguments are the specula- tive well-spring of untested hypotheses — arguments and debate have nothing to say about actual scientific progress. Evidence or “data” are the lone and final arbiter. Science stands or falls on data, and data may constantly change. If this makes you sort of queasy, that’s OK. If it makes you question the importance of using data for public policy decisions, get over your queasiness and ask your- self: what’s better? What do you rely on if you reject the best answer science can give you? Koonin’s idea is based on false (and easily falsi- fied) assumptions. The first is that there is no debate. Citing previously published data, Koonin asserted in 2014 that ocean rise had slowed over the past two decades. In 2015, a research team led by Christopher Watson re- examined this question and showed there were errors in the data cited by Koonin. These errors led to the wrong conclusion — rather than slowing, sea level rise had actually accelerated over the past two decades. Independent work by other research- ers has generated results that support Watson’s conclusions. We say the Red Team as a public event is not a good choice. Let those who feel that climate change is not occurring or is not the result of human activ- ity fight the fight in the only meaningful arena: in scientific journals. To do this, they will have to have data. For the rest of us, we need to use the climate sci- ence consensus as the basis of our public policy, warts and all. We have nothing better. With regard to cli- mate science, we can say that the best current evi- dence indicates that, 1. The current episode of climate change is real; 2. That it is primarily caused by changes in the heat budget of the Earth due to human activity; and 3. That it will result in more harm than good. Mary Ann Asson-Batres is a resident of Sisters. Before moving to Sisters, she was a professor in the biology department at Tennessee State University (TSU). Phil Ganter is a colleague and professor of biology at TSU. Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.
