Keith Kloor – Page 105

Author Archive

Why Scientists Can't Tell Their Stories

March 4, 2011 by Keith Kloor | Filed in science, science communication | 229 comments

Randy Olson, in response to this post, offers an unstinting and thought-provoking commentary on science communication. Olson is a marine biologist turned filmmaker. One of his movies is called Flock of Dodos, which might best characterize his view of the science community–with respect to their overall communication skills. Although critical of scientists, Olson also offers some constructive suggestions below. Have a read and let’s discuss….Continue Reading…

The Biotech Bogeyman

March 4, 2011 by Keith Kloor | Filed in agriculture, biotechnology, GMOs | 8 comments

Andy Revkin has a post related to a conference I (and numerous other journalists) also attended this week. Due to computer challenges (my laptop died on Tuesday) and other obligations, I haven’t yet been able to post on any of the sessions. But I’ll get something up by Monday. I’m still digesting it all. Meanwhile, for those who…Continue Reading…

Of Scapegoats and Minefields

March 3, 2011 by Keith Kloor | Filed in climate change, communication | 41 comments

Randy Olson, the scientist-turned-filmaker, dares to depart from conventional wisdom among climate advocates, many who would hang the news media in collective effigy over climategate: The media were irrelevant and largely blameless in Climategate. The whole incident was a case study in the absence of effective leadership in both the science and environmental communities. For…Continue Reading…

Where Greens Rule

March 2, 2011 by Keith Kloor | Filed in environmentalism, greens | 78 comments

Well, not exactly, but it seems that German greens have matured into a potent political force. I do think this Foreign Policy piece hypes their ascendancy, but there’s no denying that greens have long been players in German politics in a way that is unimaginable in the U.S. And it appears they are now appealing to a broader swath of the German populace. …Continue Reading…

Counting Carbon

March 1, 2011 by Keith Kloor | Filed in climate science | 12 comments

Ever wonder how scientists can determine how much carbon dioxide (CO2) is accumulating in the atmosphere? In this engaging story, science writer Tom Yulsman visits a CO2 monitoring station high up in the Colorado mountains and brings a crucial part of climate science down to earth. Here’s the scene and a snippet of how the data…Continue Reading…

The Commies in His Head

March 1, 2011 by Keith Kloor | Filed in Glen Beck | 9 comments

Bill McKibben has some fun after learning that Glenn Beck has called him a communist. Of course, McKibben is in good company. An esteemed military veterans organization is comprised of communists: Volunteers are communists: Then there’s the art hanging in Rockefeller Plaza–all communist. I know just the man who can bring clarity to this issue of commies in the climate…Continue Reading…

Ecological Tradeoffs

March 1, 2011 by Keith Kloor | Filed in ecology, endangered species | 7 comments

Via Andy Revkin at Dot Earth, I see that Peter Gleick, living in an imaginary world where tradeoffs never occur, is outraged that some people in California are daring to consider that not all endangered species, because of their dire status, can be saved: In a desperate attempt to make it easier to solve California’s complex and contentious water…Continue Reading…

Planet Climatewood

February 28, 2011 by Keith Kloor | Filed in climate change | 9 comments

Can Hollywood save the planet from global warming? The LA Times reports that Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary General, made his sales pitch last week at a UN outreach event: “I need your support,” he told entertainment industry insiders during a daylong forum Tuesday that focused on recent heat waves, floods, fires and drought,…Continue Reading…

In Praise of Naturalists

February 28, 2011 by Keith Kloor | Filed in naturalists, species | No comments

In his final column in a historical series about “how the discovery of species has changed our lives,” Richard Conniff notes: Were it not for the work of naturalists, you and I would probably be dead. Or if alive, we would be far likelier to be crippled, in pain, or otherwise incapacitated.

Hey NYT: What the Frak?

February 28, 2011 by Keith Kloor | Filed in Journalism, natural gas, New York Times | 11 comments

This NYT exposÃ© on lax regulation of the booming natural gas industry is a must read, but the paper of record is very late to the party. And the author of the piece, Ian Urbina, is fairly ungenerous in his acknowledgment of that fact when he notes, one quarter of the way into his story,…Continue Reading…