Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Prayer - Science = 0

Yes, it’s okay to talk about climate change right now. The devastating natural disaster in Fort McMurray is "consistent" with climate change.


The Fort Mac wildfire is horrific. Miraculously, no people have been killed. Saying that the unseasonably hot conditions in Alberta are "consistent with" climate change is not to say that they are "caused by" anthropogenic global warming. But there is no jurisprudential rationale here for requiring that guilt be established beyond a reasonable doubt. On the contrary, the precautionary principle is the appropriate standard for evaluating the possible connection. 

A lot of people go on social media to offer their prayers for the people affected by the disaster. There's nothing wrong with that. But what gets the Sandwichman's goat are the sanctimonious edicts against "politicizing" the disaster by mentioning the connection to climate change. "Now is not the time." And if not now, when?