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Chapter 2: Science, Politics, and Science in Politics

Chapter 2: Science, Politics, and Science in Politics

pp. 35-64

Authors

, Texas A & M University, , University of California, Los Angeles
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Summary

The climate-change debate, like all policy debates, is fundamentally an argument about action. How shall we respond to climate change? Do the harms and risks it presents call for action, and if so, how much effort – and money – shall we expend, and on what type of action? Listen to the debate and you will hear many different arguments – about whether and how the climate is changing, whether human activities are responsible, how much of the changes occurring are natural, how the climate will change in the future, what the impacts will be and how much they matter, and the feasibility, advantages, and disadvantages of various responses. Although these arguments are distinct, when advanced in policy debate they all serve to make a case for what we should or should not do. They aim to convince others to support a particular course of action.

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