cmooney

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January 21, 2009
My latest Science Progress column is a response to Seed's interview with the outgoing science adviser. All I can say is wow, Dr. Marburger, you really don't get it, and maybe you never will. Either way, we Bush administration science critics remain entirely unimpressed with your inability to even…
January 17, 2009
You can watch here, and here's the embedded video: Topics discussed: Chris's optimism vs. Carl's skepticism on Obama's science policyWeighing the costs of environmental regulationStop the presses! Did NASA just discover life on Mars?The Sanjay Gupta controversyCarl predicts artificial life in…
January 16, 2009
I forgot to link it on Wednesday, given how busy we all were at Arizona State planning the future of ScienceDebate (about which I hope we'll have more to say soon). But my latest Science Progress column, which has already prompted some critical responses, is about Obama's OIRA pick, Cass Sunstein.…
January 15, 2009
I have a new piece on Slate exploring precisely this question. Here's the core of it: If the war on science is over, we're now entering the postwar phase of reconstruction--the scientific equivalent of nation-building. The Bush science controversies were just one manifestation of a deeper and long-…
January 13, 2009
I am currently in Phoenix, Arizona, and Sheril is in the air over the United States on her way here. We're gathering at Arizona State University for an intense 24 hour meeting with Lawrence Krauss, Matthew Chapman, Shawn Otto, Darlene Cavalier, and others involved organizing in the…
January 12, 2009
Kenneth Chang continues the Pluto blogging by asking readers to select a preference among the following planetary options: The Current Answer: Eight. The current situation dictated by the I.A.U. where Pluto is a dwarf planet, not a planet.The "No Planet Left Behind" Option: 13. If a planet were any…
January 9, 2009
Kenneth Chang notes that Neil deGrasse Tyson has a new book coming out very soon: The Pluto Files. Apparently deGrasse Tyson caught a lot of hell over the years for being involved in the slighting of Pluto over at the Hayden Planetarium, long before the International Astronomical Union finished the…
January 8, 2009
That's the news from the Chicago Tribune. I'm interested to hear whether any environmentalists are going to be rattled by this choice. Sunstein is an ingenious scholar, and continues the whole "best and brightest" motif of the Obama administration--so welcome after so many years of Bush anti-…
January 8, 2009
Eric Berger blogs that leading climate researchers are increasingly turning towards the idea that there's going to have to be some sort of backup plan, in case our societies don't (or can't) dramatically cut emissions. This is basically what I said in my Wired feature last year: Geoengineering is…
January 7, 2009
From The New York Times: As for the startling estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, if it proves accurate, the budget deficit will be nearly two and a half times bigger than the previous record shortfall of $455 billion reached in 2008. The estimate was far higher than most…
January 7, 2009
My latest Science Progress column is about the "2009 Year of Science" efforts underway--centered in significant part on the twin Darwin anniversaries and the 400th anniversary of Galileo's invention of the telescope. I juxtapose these events with the likely role of science in Washington over the…
January 6, 2009
CNN is reporting that one of its own is being considered for the Surgeon General post. I have nothing against Sanjay Gupta, and I don't think he's unqualified. In fact, someone with so much television and communication experience would probably help raise the profile of the office. However, let's…
January 6, 2009
Both of your bloggers did, so I thought I'd post about it. I thought the film was great, but I have two comments. First: Is it not a better version of Forrest Gump--the same magical Southern epic storyline, with an everyman main character who goes to war, goes to sea, and loves his momma, but…
December 31, 2008
My last Science Progress column of the year answers the critics of John Holdren, who strike me as being pretty off base. In particular, I explain that Holdren is not some ideologue who wants to use climate policies to wreck the economy; that an ancient bet he and Paul Ehrlich made against Julian…
December 23, 2008
Well here we go....dutifully linking Bora, Brian, Isis, Laden...but excuse me, hasn't this debate happened before? And has it resulted in anything other than sound and fury? Sheril and I have a long discussion of the science journalism/science communication problem in Unscientific America. I don't…
December 22, 2008
John Tierney, Roger Pielke, Jr., and Chris Horner have the knives out. Joe Romm and Tim Lambert have begun the defenses. I find the attacks pretty baseless. But I'd like to hear readers thoughts on all of this, as I may well be writing more about it.... CORRECTION: The Roger Pielke Jr. post is from…
December 20, 2008
Here's the video from his weekly address: And the full text can be read here. There are many gems in here; scientists are going to be beyond ecstatic about this speech, and this team that Obama has named. To me, the newsiest item is that Obama officially says that John Holdren will be "Assistant…
December 19, 2008
It seems just days ago that we learned CNN is cutting its science unit, including Miles O'Brien, who took global warming very seriously. And then last night, a guy who wasn't cut, meteorologist Chad Myers, popped off as follows: "You know, to think that we could affect weather all that much is…
December 18, 2008
That's the word from the Washington Post. Like, wow. Lubchenco is yet another distinguished scientist and ScienceDebate2008 supporter. We are racking them up in this administration. Here's Lubchenco's video: Chu, Holdren, Lubchenco....we've got a hell of a science administration shaping up here…
December 18, 2008
That's what my friend Eli Kintisch is reporting over at Science's new blog, Science Insider. It's also something I suggested in a column for Seed last year, where I wrote, "In science policy circles, one also sometimes hears mention of Harvard's John Holdren, former American Association for the…
December 18, 2008
I just posted my weekly DeSmogBlog item: It's about the disconnect right now between the infrastructure and stimulus agenda on the one hand, and the global warming and energy agenda on the other. These all need to be synthesized, for the simple reason that you can't rebuild infrastructure unless…
December 17, 2008
In a recession, there's supposed to be an inverse relationship between the economy's performance and graduate school enrollments. The theory is simple: In economic downturns, young people go back to school to shield themselves from the unpredictable labor marketplace and prepare for greater career…
December 17, 2008
In the latest issue of the American Prospect magazine, I've got a lengthy, essay-style review of two recent books on global warming: The Long Thaw: How Humans Are Changing The Next 100,000 Years of Earth's Climate, by David Archer of RealClimate.org and the University of Chicago; and Forecast: The…
December 16, 2008
Here's the full video of the president elect's naming of his energy and environment team. Steven Chu's remarks are the most interesting, and to my mind sound like they were probably written by the man himself, at least initially, rather than by some PR manager. Man, times have changed...
December 15, 2008
We know who they are. We know they're determined. And we know they're qualified. But precisely what measures will president-elect Obama's energy and environment team have to take in order to really get a handle on global warming? Will they use the Clean Air Act? A new law? Some combination of both…
December 11, 2008
I have a DeSmogBlog post further praising the selection of Steven Chu to head the Energy Department. Here's a quote: A few weeks ago in Los Angeles, I saw Chu speak at a National Academy of Sciences event devoted to connecting science and the entertainment industry. Chu focused on global warming…
December 10, 2008
Apparently it's going to be Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory director Steve Chu. I heartily applaud the pick. It's especially noteworthy that Chu has been a big proponent of action on global warming and clean energy. Here's Chu endorsing ScienceDebate2008:
December 10, 2008
I have no idea why NSF hasn't issued a press release, but here are the data (PDF). Since 2002, total science and engineering doctorates granted in the U.S. have increased from 24,608 to 31,801 (in 2007). That's five straight years of increases. You can look at all the data yourself, but the life…
December 9, 2008
My latest Science Progress column is about the recent killing of science coverage at CNN, and the broader media business context in which this is happening. The upshot: If we want science journalism, especially in these awful economic times, we have to fight for it and be willing to spend to…
December 9, 2008
When our lame outgoing president suggested teaching intelligent design alongside evolution in science classes back in (I think) 2005, I like many was outraged. But Bush's recent comments in one of his outgoing legacy saving interviews put the issue in a somewhat different light: MCFADDEN: Is it…