Is science serious? Who's getting badgered and why

Is science just another opinion?

We've all witnessed the reduced respect for science among the powerful in America's capital. It's become just another source of data to be spun for political effect. Seen by spin-meisters as little more than a detailed sort of opinion polling among the over-edcucated.

But did you know it's not a unique problem for Yanks? Check out this contretemps over...badgers. Badger bashing is a bruhaha of major scale in Britain where the predator is being blamed by some for passing on TB to cattle. Of course, a scientific panel said killing badgers will not stop cattle from getting TB. Nature says in an editorial: intend to ignore the science? Then why ask?

Then there's the uncomfortable fact that people can also spread TB to the cows. Ooops. We can definitely testify that waterboarding and any other not-quite-deadly treatment of humans cannot stop the spread of TB. So the battle is joined wherein pols in Britain will make decisions about badgers that have nothing to do with the science. Sound familiar?

Here's an example of how treatig science as just another opinion plays out in public argument. This is about Kansas legislators angry over losing two new coal-fired plants in their state. With a straight face they question the dangers of continued CO2 emission. The position of science and technology in public discourse and decision-making is crucial for the future of Green Tech and its applications. That's true here and it's true there.