Center News
Roger Pielke, Jr., testifies before Congress about climate change
Roger Pielke, Jr., testified before the House Committee on Government Reform on July 20. The following is an abstract of his testimony:
The main message of my testimony is that the questions about what actions on climate change make sense in the short –term … remain largely unanswered, and that until we better organize the climate science and technology enterprise to focus on policy options for the short term, the climate debate is likely to remain in its present gridlock. Policies that address climate change – both mitigation (focused on modulating future climate via greenhouse gas emissions) and adaptation (focused on managing the impacts of climate events by increasing resilience and reducing vulnerabilities) -- have both long-term and short-term effects. To date climate policy has focused primarily on the long-term, and so too has research supported to inform policy. As a consequence, too little attention is paid to policy options and technological alternatives that might make sense in the short-term. One reason for the oversight of the short-term is the intellectual gerrymandering of the climate change issue at the international level to focus extremely narrowly on greenhouses gases and their effects. Billions of dollars of public investments in climate science and technology might be reoriented to better serve the needs of decision makers grappling with climate change, which will be a policy issue for decades to come, by focusing on policies that make sense in the short term as well as long term.
See Pielke, Jr., R.A., 2006. Statement to the Committee on Government Reform of the United States House of Representatives, Hearing on Climate Change: Understanding the Degree of the Problem, 20 July.
Roger Pielke, Jr., Awarded Eduard Brückner Prize
Roger Pielke, Jr., was awarded the Eduard Brückner Prize for outstanding achievement in interdisciplinary climate science. He is the third recipient of the prize following historian Christian Pfister (2000) and oceanographer Ernst Maier-Reimer (2003). The prize is awarded every third year. Pielke will be awarded the prize in October at the upcoming Deutsche Klimatagung (German Climate Conference) in Munich. For more information (in German) visit this website.
No Se Nada Weblog
Kevin Vranes, our CIRES Visiting Fellow, writes a highly entertaining and informative weblog, No Se Nada, that covers science policy among other subjects. Here’s how Kevin describes it:
“I post on science and culture, science and politics, anything within the Earth sciences but especially issues surrounding climate change and surrounding natural hazards/disasters, space and NASA, internet and computer technology, energy, and a few other topics…The name means “I don't know” in Spanish and is just my attempt to get across a philosophy that I don't know everything, there are a lot of good ideas out there and I'm trying to sort them all out same as everybody.”
Prometheus
Prometheus, the Center’s science policy weblog, was named one of 50 popular science blogs in a 5 July 2006 Nature News article.
Recent posts in Prometheus:
Center Briefings
The Center began sending out periodic email briefings to thousands of science and technology policy decision makers in Washington, D.C. and across the world earlier this year. The briefings can be found here. To receive notices of future Center briefings, please join our mailing list.
2005—2006 Center Annual Report
The 2005-2006 annual report of the CIRES Center for Science and Technology Policy Research is now available online.
The Center had another exciting year with many notable accomplishments. The annual report provides a detailed overview of our research, education and outreach activities.
For an up-to-date view of our activities please consult our web site.
Fall Noontime Seminar Schedule
The Center continues its exciting noontime seminar series this fall with the following upcoming talks. All talks, which are free and open to the public, take place at the Center, 1333 Grandview Ave., Boulder (Click for directions).
Sept. 25, Jana Milford, CU Environmental Engineering, “Dealing with Uncertainty in Regulatory Applications of Air Quality Models”
Oct. 9, Genevieve Maricle, ENVS Graduate Student, “Shaping Science: The Role of Science Studies in Policy”
Oct. 18, Sarah Krakoff, CU Law, “Climate Change, Morality and Law”
Oct. 30, Carl Koval, CU Energy Initiative, “CU’s New Energy Initiative”
Nov. 13, Michael Zimmerman, CU Center for Humanities and the Arts, “Outline of an Integral Ecology”
Nov. 20, Juan Bautista Bengoetxea, visiting scholar at the Colorado School of Mines, “Science and Technology Studies in Spain”
Dec. 4, Lisa Keranen, CU Communication, “Public and Technical Argument in Science-Based Controversies”
The schedule is subject to change. Check our speakers website for up-to-date information.
Center Staff Participate in Gordon Research Conference
The Center had a significant presence at the recent Gordon Research Conference on Science and Technology Policy in Big Sky, Montana. Rad Byerly gave a talk titled “What are the issues involved with science for policy vs policy for science?” Roger Pielke, Jr. discussed “Decision making in a world of uncertainty,” and Lisa Dilling spoke about “Implications of mismatched supply and demand for climate science.” Center affiliates Paul Komor and Dan Sarewitz also gave presentations, and several of the Center’s graduate students presented posters.
