Preview: Talk of Alaska — Tue, Sep 25

Sun, September 23, 2007
Posted in Talk of Alaska

Coming up Tuesday, September 25 at 10:00 a.m. on Talk of Alaska…

Climate warming and Endangered Species designations are both important issues for Alaska. Science is supposed to be informing the debate. But what if you can’t trust the science? A scientist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) says his bosses tried to muzzle him when he spoke out about climate warming. And a high official in the Bush administration’s Interior Department resigned after she was accused of rewriting scientific reports she disagreed with.

Scientific integrity is the subject Tuesday, on the next Talk of Alaska, from APRN.

GUESTS:

Michael Halpern, Deputy Director, Office of Scientific Integrity, Union of Concerned Scientists
Live callers statewide

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Talk of Alaska is broadcast live statewide on the stations of the Alaska Public Radio Network each Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. Audio from the program is posted online following the live broadcast.

Comments

2 Comments to “Preview: Talk of Alaska — Tue, Sep 25”

mpb on September 23, 2007 at 7:38 pm

One would think that integrity and thoughtfulness would be essential in state positions, especially as a counterbalance to federal actions and policies. But this doesn’t seem always the case in Alaska. It is especially important for the Unorganized Borough communities which too often depend on state agencies for their technical or scientific advice.

Climate change in rural Alaska was obvious to the trained eye 10 years ago yet the state would not allow these considerations in siting or permitting rural infrastructure, such as landfills. The feds, such as USDA-NRCS or USCOE, have often had to impose limits on their staff in Alaska in order not to push beyond national perogatives (or short-sighted regional ones)
mpb on September 25, 2007 at 11:09 am

Nice additions from listeners, too.

Good science teaching and education is important so that the policy-makers have an idea of what science and sciences are and how they function. Also, what science is not. We are celebrating 50 years since Sputnik was launched but 30 years ago the premier national laboratories were switched to a bottom-line business management model. That’s a lengthy history to overcome to bring good science back into decisionmaking. Policy and action decisions are made for many reasons but for all our benefit a healthy dose of reality as one caller suggested, should be essential in the process at any level of government.