Roger A. Pielke (Jr)
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Roger A. Pielke, Jr. (born November 2, 1968) is a professor in the Environmental Studies Program and a Fellow of the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is the Director of the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research. His current areas of interest include understanding the politicization of science, decision-making under uncertainty, and policy education for scientists.
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[edit] Climate change
Pielke has written extensively on climate change policy. As a starting point he accepts the IPCC view of the underlying science The IPCC has concluded that greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activity are an important driver of changes in climate. And on this basis alone I am personally convinced that it makes sense to take action to limit greenhouse gas emissions. [1] but he argues that Any conceivable emissions reductions policies, even if successful, cannot have a perceptible impact on the climate for many decades and from this he concludes that In coming decades the only policies that can effectively be used to manage the immediate effects of climate variability and change will be adaptive. (see also [2]; and argued as long ago as 1998 [3]).
On the issues of hurricanes and climate change, he has argued that the trend in increasing damage from hurricanes is primarily due to societal factors [4] rather than change in the numbers of events.
[edit] Space shuttle and station
His early work was on the Space Shuttle program. In 1993 he argued that the shuttle was expensive and risky - that it was "probable" that another orbiter would be lost within 20-35 flights [5] (n the event, approximately 60 flights passed before the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia). Shortly before the loss of Columbia he warned that loss of another shuttle was only a matter of time [6].
He has been critical of the space station program [7].
[edit] Other
Pielke was invited to write for Regulation [8], a magazine published by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think-tank [9]. Pielke has also published articles in Atlantic Monthly, The New Republic, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times [10]. He also appeared in a Fox News special Global Warming: The Debate Continues, that featured several prominent global warming skeptics and industry consultants [11]. He has also appeared multiple times on CNN, The Weather Channel, and in many other media outlets [12]. For his own part, Pielke characterizes his political views as "consonant with those of the Blue Dog Democrats who argue that the stale extreme left vs. right approach requires a breath of fresh air" [13]. Pielke's views are cited by libertarians [14] [15] [16] and liberals [17] [18]. Pielke has a book forthcoming in early 2007 with Cambridge University Press titled "The Honest Broker: Making Sense of Science in Policy and Politics" [19].
[edit] Career
Pielke has a B.A. in mathematics (1990); a M.A. in public policy (1992) and a PhD in political science, all from the University of Colorado.
[edit] See also
- Roger A. Pielke (meteorologist; his father)
[edit] External links
- CV
- Prometheus - his blog discussing science policy issues
- Roger Pielke Jr., When Scientists Politicize Science, Regulation, Spring 2006[20].
