The Climate Change Problem . . .

The New York Times Magazine has an interesting article, "The Civil Heretic" by Nicholas Davidoff, that appears to pit two renowned scientists, Freeman Dyson and James Hansen, against each other on the issue of climate change. According to Davidoff, Dyson thinks climate change might be a good thing, while Hansen says coal is the greatest threat to civilization and all life on our planet.

Buried in the article is what I think is one of the key issues in this debate:

"Beyond the specific points of factual dispute, Dyson has said that it all boils down to 'a deeper disagreement about values' between those who think 'nature knows best' and that 'any gross human disruption of the natural environment is evil,' and 'humanists,' like himself, who contend that protecting the existing biosphere is not as important as fighting more repugnant evils like war, poverty and unemployment."

First, let me acknowledge that I have no idea as to whether Davidoff has accurately portrayed Dyson's position. We do know that Hansen feels so strongly that Davidoff misrepresented Hansen that Hansen has issued a public explanation and apology to Dyson.

Second, regardless of whether Dyson's opinion was accurately represented, I don't believe it is accurate to portray this as a choice between a "nature knows best" camp and an anti-evil camp, as if the "nature knows best" camp are evil loving Luddites. I think the real argument is between those who believe that our environment is very delicate and those who believe that any damage that man does to nature can be corrected by science and engineering. This, I believe, should be a central aspect of the debate. - Stuart M. Whitaker

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