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Copyright ©1998 by The Resilience Alliance*

Michael Tillotson. 1998. Politics. Conservation Ecology [online] 2(1): R3. Available from the Internet. URL: http://www.consecol.org/vol2/iss1/resp3/

Response to Peterson et al. 1997. "Coping with Uncertain Climate Change"

Politics

Michael Tillotson


The last paragraph of Peterson et al. (1997) calls for political action, not scientific action. We should avoid confusing the two. As citizens, we have important political responsibilities, and as scientists, special competencies in meeting some of them. However, we lose credibility as informants and influence as advisors if we present our politics as somehow more "scientific" than our neighbor's.

We should tell truth to power. Unfortunately, that's both complex and difficult. Instead of corrupting our science in a vain attempt to fit it into political agendas, we should educate the politically skilled and their constituents. When people know what they're doing, they will do right more often. If that is not true, science has little to contribute to this or any matter.


RESPONSES TO THIS ARTICLE

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LITERATURE CITED

Peterson, G., G.A. De Leo, J. Hellmann, M.A. Janssen, A. Kinzig, J.R. Malcolm, K. O'Brien, S.E. Pope, D. Rothman, E. Shevliakova, and R. Tinch. 1997. Uncertainty, climate change, and adaptive management. Conservation Ecology [online]1(2): 4. Available from the Internet. URL: http://www.consecol.org/vol1/iss2/art4


Address of Correspondent:
Michael Tillotson
756 Curfew St.
St. Paul, MN, 55114
Phone: 612 644 4767
miket@mr.net

*The copyright to this article passed from the Ecological Society of America to the Resilience Alliance on 1 January 2000.

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