LETTER: Science isn’t a show of hands

In his March 20 story, “State AG joins challenge of climate rule’s repeal,” Review-Journal reporter Alan Halaly writes, “An overwhelming majority of climate scientists link greenhouse gas emissions from fossil-fuel burning industries such as coal and oil to the rapid warming of the planet.”

Science has nothing whatever to do with consensus. Consensus is the business of politics. Science is not a democracy, and consensus is not a part of the scientific method. It is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled. Real science doesn’t settle debates with a show of hands.

Michael Crichton, a physician, producer and writer, noted that “consensus is invoked only in situations where the science is not solid enough.”