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Wednesday, June 7, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
O
P
I
N I
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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 Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned.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
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Slt. chance t-storm Showers
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64/41
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85/51
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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.