Will this “tarnish their image” or has it too late?
The Christian Science Monitor reports:
…One researcher’s actions don’t reflect the activities of the broader range of climate scientists, some analysts caution. But they also say that the incident could further polarize an already polarized climate-policy debate while undermining public confidence in scientists in general.
Heads of scientific organizations have decried what they see as a rising tide of anti-science in the US and are encouraging scientists “to shift into culture-warrior mode,” says Matthew Nisbet, a social scientist at American University in Washington who studies the ongoing debate over climate and energy policy.
Surveys indicate that “along with the Supreme Court and the military, science is our most trusted institution,” he says. “And climate scientists, across all demographic groups, hold high levels of trust, especially among young people of all political backgrounds.”
“Scientists are being mobilized as political combatants, which they are not trained to do, which most of them are uncomfortable doing, and which will significantly tarnish their image,” he says…
Their image has been tarnished *because* they became political combatants. Who believes Hansen isn’t in ‘culture warrior mode’? The more they play politics, the stupider they look.
“Heads of scientific organizations have decried what they see as a rising tide of anti-science in the US.”
The people demanding science are being characterized as “anti-science.”
Demanding that “scientific” organizations, publicly funded ones no less,
share their data is called “anti-science.”