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Pielke has done pioneering work for several decades showing that rising wealth and property, not climate change, is the main factor behind the rising cost of natural disasters. In August 2020 Pielke published an article in ''Environmental Hazards'' that reviews 54 studies over the last 22 years. Pielke finds “little evidence to support claims that any part of the overall increase in global economic losses documented on climate time scales is attributable to human-caused changes in climate, reinforcing conclusions of recent assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.”<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pielke|first=Roger|date=2020-08-05|title=Economic ‘normalisation’ of disaster losses 1998–2020: a literature review and assessment|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/17477891.2020.1800440|journal=Environmental Hazards|volume=0|issue=0|pages=1–19|doi=10.1080/17477891.2020.1800440|issn=1747-7891}}</ref>
Pielke has done pioneering work for several decades showing that rising wealth and property, not climate change, is the main factor behind the rising cost of natural disasters. In August 2020 Pielke published an article in ''Environmental Hazards'' that reviews 54 studies over the last 22 years. Pielke finds “little evidence to support claims that any part of the overall increase in global economic losses documented on climate time scales is attributable to human-caused changes in climate, reinforcing conclusions of recent assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.”<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pielke|first=Roger|date=2020-08-05|title=Economic ‘normalisation’ of disaster losses 1998–2020: a literature review and assessment|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/17477891.2020.1800440|journal=Environmental Hazards|volume=0|issue=0|pages=1–19|doi=10.1080/17477891.2020.1800440|issn=1747-7891}}</ref>

=== Climate Scenarios ===

Pielke argues that scientists have misused scenarios of future warming in part by overestimating future coal use and underestimating the use of natural gas, thereby resulting in overestimates of future warming.. "As a consequence," he writes in a new paper, "the climate research community is presently off-track. Attempts to address scenario misuse within the community have thus far not worked. The result has been the widespread production of myopic or misleading perspectives on future climate change and climate policy. Until reform is implemented, we can expect the production of such perspectives to continue. However, because many aspects of climate change discourse are contingent on scenarios, there is considerable momentum that will make such a course correction difficult and contested - even as efforts to improve scenarios have informed research that will be included in the IPCC 6th Assessment."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pielke|first=Roger|last2=Ritchie|first2=Justin|date=2020-04-21|title=Systemic Misuse of Scenarios in Climate Research and Assessment|url=https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=3581777|language=en|location=Rochester, NY}}</ref>


=== Climate Policy ===
=== Climate Policy ===

Revision as of 20:38, 1 September 2020

Roger A. Pielke Jr.
Born (1968-11-02) November 2, 1968 (age 56)
Alma materUniversity of Colorado Boulder (B.A. 1990; M.A. 1992; Ph.D. 1994)
Known forPublic policy and science, environment-society interactions
AwardsEduard Brueckner Prize (2006)
NRC Board on Ocean Sciences Roger Revelle Commemorative Lecturer (2006)
Sigma Xi Distinguished Lectureship Award (2000)
Scientific career
FieldsPolitical science, Environmental Studies, sports governance
InstitutionsUniversity of Colorado Boulder, Oxford University's James Martin Institute for Science and Civilization, NCAR Environmental and Societal Impacts Group
Notes
Father Roger A. Pielke, atmospheric scientist (land and sea interactions with atmosphere, atmospheric dynamics, climate change)

Roger A. Pielke Jr. (born November 2, 1968) is an American political scientist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a leading expert on climate change and natural disasters, sports governance, and the intersection of science and public policy. He has authored, co-authored, or edited 14 books, served on the editorial boards of Minerva, Nature and Culture, Environmental Hazards, has over 20,000 academic citations and an h-index of 61.[1][2] Scientists view an h-index of 20 as good, 40 as outstanding, and 60 as truly exceptional.[3]

Pielke is the winner of the Public Service Award of the Geological Society of America, was a James Martin Fellow at Oxford University, and winner of the Eduard Bruckner Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Interdisciplinary Climate Research. He was the director of the Sports Governance Center within the Department of Athletics at the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Colorado Boulder.[4]

He previously served in the Environmental Studies Program and was a Fellow of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) where he served as Director of the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Colorado Boulder from 2001 to 2007. Pielke was a visiting scholar at Oxford University's Saïd Business School in the 2007-2008 academic year.[5]

A prolific writer, his interests include understanding the politicization of science; decision making under uncertainty; policy education for scientists in areas such as climate change, disaster mitigation, and world trade; and research on the governance of sports organizations, including FIFA and the NCAA.

Education and background

Pielke earned a B.A. in mathematics (1990), an M.A. in public policy (1992), and a Ph.D. in political science, all from the University of Colorado Boulder. Prior to his positions at CU-Boulder, from 1993 to 2001 he was a staff scientist[6] in the Environmental and Societal Impacts Group of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. From 2002 to 2004 Pielke was Director of Graduate Studies for the CU-Boulder Graduate Program in Environmental Studies and in 2001 students selected him for the Outstanding Graduate Advisor Award. Pielke serves on numerous editorial boards and advisory committees, retains many professional affiliations, and sat on the Board of Directors of WeatherData, Inc. from 2001 to 2006. In 2012 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Linköping University[7][8] and the Public Service Award of the Geological Society of America.[9]

Climate Change

Natural Disasters

Pielke has done pioneering work for several decades showing that rising wealth and property, not climate change, is the main factor behind the rising cost of natural disasters. In August 2020 Pielke published an article in Environmental Hazards that reviews 54 studies over the last 22 years. Pielke finds “little evidence to support claims that any part of the overall increase in global economic losses documented on climate time scales is attributable to human-caused changes in climate, reinforcing conclusions of recent assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.”[10]

Climate Scenarios

Pielke argues that scientists have misused scenarios of future warming in part by overestimating future coal use and underestimating the use of natural gas, thereby resulting in overestimates of future warming.. "As a consequence," he writes in a new paper, "the climate research community is presently off-track. Attempts to address scenario misuse within the community have thus far not worked. The result has been the widespread production of myopic or misleading perspectives on future climate change and climate policy. Until reform is implemented, we can expect the production of such perspectives to continue. However, because many aspects of climate change discourse are contingent on scenarios, there is considerable momentum that will make such a course correction difficult and contested - even as efforts to improve scenarios have informed research that will be included in the IPCC 6th Assessment."[11]

Climate Policy

Pielke agrees with the IPCC view that humans are warming the planet, and supports actions to reduce emissions. "The IPCC has concluded that greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activity are an important driver of changes in climate. And on this basis alone I am personally convinced that it makes sense to take action to limit greenhouse gas emissions."[12]

Pielke is author and coauthor of several books, articles, and reports on climate policy, including The Climate Fix and The Hartwell Paper. According to Pielke, the "iron law of climate policy" suggests that when economic objectives and climate action are in opposition, economics will win. Thus, policies to address climate change must be made compatible with economic growth, he argues. The focus of climate policy should be on developing alternatives to fossil fuels rather than making fuels more expensive. "Any conceivable emissions reductions policies, even if successful, cannot have a perceptible impact on the climate for many decades", he notes. Pielke argues that, "In coming decades the only policies that can effectively be used to manage the immediate effects of climate variability and change will be adaptive."[13][14]

In April 2015, Pielke joined with a group of scholars in issuing An Ecomodernist Manifesto.[15][16] The other authors were: John Asafu-Adjaye, Linus Blomqvist, Stewart Brand, Barry Brook. Ruth DeFries, Erle Ellis, Christopher Foreman, David Keith, Martin Lewis, Mark Lynas, Ted Nordhaus, Rachel Pritzker, Joyashree Roy, Mark Sagoff, Michael Shellenberger, Robert Stone, and Peter Teague.[17]

Controversies

Pielke is independent of all financial conflicts of interests, and has never accepted funding from the energy industry, as multiple investigations have proven, and yet has been subjected repeatedly to campaigns aimed at raising the suspicion that he has, by climate activists and lawmakers who object to his research showing that rising wealth, not climate change, is primarily responsible for the rising cost of natural disasters.

For example, in 2015, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) wrote a public letter to the president of the University of Colorado suggesting that Roger Pielke might have taken money from the fossil fuel industry. Grijalva gave no evidence Pielke had accepted money from the energy industry. Instead he noted that a different scientist, one who was skeptical of climate change, had received taken from an electric utility, suggesting that Pielke might have done the same. Grijalva asked the university to hand over Pielke’s correspondence relating to recent congressional testimony and demanded documents revealing Pielke’s funding sources. ExxonMobil, Grijalva wrote, “may have provided false or misleading information” about its support for a scientist in the past. “If true, these may not be isolated incidents,” wrote Grijalva.[18] Pielke responded to Grijalva's letter writing, “Before continuing, let me make one point abundantly clear: I have no funding, declared or undeclared, with any fossil fuel company or interest. I never have.”[19]

The letter appeared to be an extension of a longstanding effort by Center for American Progress (CAP), a large Democratic think tank, to de-legitimize Pielke for his research. Starting in 2008, authors with CAP published at least 150 blog posts criticizing Pielke. One called him “the uber-denier,” even though he accepts the mainstream scientific view of climate change.[20][21][22] Judd Legum, the editor of ThinkProgress, a site that is part of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, states that a ThinkProgress blog helped to discredit Roger Pielke Jr. and get him fired from the FiveThirtyEight website.[23]

John Holdren, a senior advisor and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy under President Barack Obama, emailed John Podesta, the founder of the Center for American Progress, in January 2014, saying. “I’m looking forward to working with you on the President’s climate-change agenda,” wrote Holdren.[24] In February, Holdren testified to the Senate that Pielke’s research was “not representative of the mainstream scientific opinion,” and a few days later published an article on the White House website criticizing Pielke’s prior testimony before Congress as “misleading” and “not representative of mainstream views.”[25] [26]

Scientific organizations criticized Grijalva’s letter to Pielke. “Publicly singling out specific researchers based on perspectives they have expressed and implying a failure to appropriately disclose funding sources—and thereby questioning their scientific integrity,” wrote the American Meteorological Society, “sends a chilling message to all academic researchers.”[27] When “politicians seek to probe beyond possible sources of external influence on published work and attempt to expose internal discussions that they find inconvenient,” editorialized Nature, “that sends a chilling message to all academics and to the wider public.”[28]

Later, Grijalva told a reporter that his request for Pielke’s correspondence was “overreach,” adding, “As long as we get a response as to the funding sources, I think everything else is secondary and not necessary.” While other university presidents ignored Grijalva’s request, the then– University of Colorado president cooperated and investigated Pielke. The resulting investigation confirmed that Pielke had never received any funding from fossil fuel companies.[29]

Science Policy

Coronavirus Pandemic

On September 1, 2020, the National Science Foundation announced that it had awarded Pielke and an international team of investigators a Rapid Response Research (RAPID) grant to investigate how seven countries used scientific advice to address the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

“It is not a secret that in some places around the world, including the United States and the United Kingdom, the response has been less than successful,” said Pielke. “There are a lot of tough questions to ask about how research was used, not used or misused and how that shaped outcomes.”[30]

Sports Governance

Pielke, Jr. has written both scholarly and popular articles on sports governance including the use and misuse of science in anti-doping regulation; sex and gender in sport; reform of college athletics; governance (and corruption) in national and international sports bodies; the regulation of technology in sport.[31][32][33][34]

Space Shuttle Research

Pielke's early work was on the Space Shuttle program. In 1993 he argued that the shuttle was expensive and risky — that it was "probable" that another orbiter would be lost within 20-35 flights.[35] Shortly before the loss of Columbia he warned that loss of another shuttle was only a matter of time.[36] He has also been critical of the space station program.[37]

Publications

  • Editor, with Daniel Sarewitz and Radford Byerly Jr., Prediction: Science, Decision Making, and the Future of Nature, Island Press; New title edition (April 1, 2000), hardcover, 400 pages, ISBN 978-1559637756
  • The Honest Broker: Making Sense of Science in Policy and Politics, Cambridge University Press (May 14, 2007), hardcover, 198 pages, ISBN 978-0521873208
  • The Climate Fix: What Scientists and Politicians Won't Tell You About Global Warming, Basic Books (September 28, 2010), hardcover, 288 pages ISBN 0465020526
  • The Rightful Place of Science: Disasters and Climate Change, Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes (November 1, 2014), trade paperback, 124 pages ISBN 978-0692297513
  • List of publications at sciencepolicy.colorado.edu

See also

References

  1. ^ "Roger Pielke Jr. - Google Scholar". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
  2. ^ Pielke, Roger. "Roger Pielke C.V." (PDF).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ Hirsch, J. E. (2005-11-15). "An index to quantify an individual's scientific research output". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 102 (46): 16569–16572. doi:10.1073/pnas.0507655102. ISSN 0027-8424. PMID 16275915.
  4. ^ "Roger Pielke, Jr". Center for Science and Technology Policy Research. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  5. ^ "James Martin Fellows" (PDF). Summer Newsletter. Oxford Martin School. July 2009. p. 10. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  6. ^ Revkin, Andrew (2008-08-07). "Climate-Change Program to Aid Poor Nations Is Shut". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-03-28.
  7. ^ "Roger Pielke Jr. awarded an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy from Linköping University". Center for Science and Technology Policy Research. 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  8. ^ Falklöf, Lennart (2012-03-20). "Four Honorary Doctors: News & Events: Linköping University". Linköping University. Retrieved 2012-03-29.
  9. ^ Center for Science; Technology Policy Research (2012-07-09). "Roger Pielke Jr. awarded 2012 GSA Public Service Award". Retrieved 2012-07-09. {{cite web}}: |author2= has generic name (help); Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ Pielke, Roger (2020-08-05). "Economic 'normalisation' of disaster losses 1998–2020: a literature review and assessment". Environmental Hazards. 0 (0): 1–19. doi:10.1080/17477891.2020.1800440. ISSN 1747-7891.
  11. ^ Pielke, Roger; Ritchie, Justin (2020-04-21). "Systemic Misuse of Scenarios in Climate Research and Assessment". Rochester, NY. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  12. ^ Roger A. Pielke Jr. (2006-07-20). "Statement to the Committee on Government Reform of the United States House of Representatives" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  13. ^ Pielke, Roger; Gwyn Prins; Steve Rayner; Daniel Sarewitz (2007-02-08). "Lifting the taboo on adaptation" (PDF). Nature. 445 (7128): 597–8. doi:10.1038/445597a. PMID 17287795. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  14. ^ Pielke, Roger (1998). "Rethinking the role of adaptation in climate policy" (PDF). Global Environmental Change. 8 (2): 159–170. doi:10.1016/s0959-3780(98)00011-9. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  15. ^ "An Ecomodernist Manifesto". ecomodernism.org. Retrieved April 17, 2015. A good Anthropocene demands that humans use their growing social, economic, and technological powers to make life better for people, stabilize the climate, and protect the natural world.
  16. ^ Eduardo Porter (April 14, 2015). "A Call to Look Past Sustainable Development". The New York Times. Retrieved April 17, 2015. On Tuesday, a group of scholars involved in the environmental debate, including Professor Roy and Professor Brook, Ruth DeFries of Columbia University, and Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus of the Breakthrough Institute in Oakland, Calif., issued what they are calling the "Eco-modernist Manifesto."
  17. ^ "Authors An Ecomodernist Manifesto". ecomodernism.org. Retrieved April 17, 2015. As scholars, scientists, campaigners, and citizens, we write with the conviction that knowledge and technology, applied with wisdom, might allow for a good, or even great, Anthropocene.
  18. ^ Schwartz, John (2015-02-25). "Lawmakers Seek Information on Funding for Climate Change Critics". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
  19. ^ rogerpielkejr (2015-02-25). "I am Under "Investigation"". The Climate Fix. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
  20. ^ Jr, Roger Pielke (2016-12-03). "My Unhappy Life as a Climate Heretic". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
  21. ^ rogerpielkejr (2016-11-14). "Wikileaks and Me". Roger Pielke Jr. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
  22. ^ "Obama Science Advisor John Holdren Schools Political Scientist Roger Pielke On Climate And Drought". Retrieved 2020-09-01.
  23. ^ "WikiLeaks exposes liberal group's efforts to thwart climate writings of CU's Roger Pielke Jr". The Denver Post. October 27, 2016. I think it's fair say that, without Climate Progress, Pielke would still be writing on climate change for 538
  24. ^ "Fwd: Climate Change - WikiLeaks". wikileaks.org. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
  25. ^ "Page H9587 - Dec 11, 2014". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
  26. ^ Whistle.Blower (2014-03-04). "John Holdren: Drought and Global Climate Change: An Analysis of Statements by Roger Pielke Jr". Government Accountability Project. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
  27. ^ Journal, Ben Geman, National (2015-02-27). "American Meteorological Society: Dem's Climate-Funding Probe Sends "˜Chilling Message'". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2020-09-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  28. ^ "Gone fishing". Nature News. 519 (7541): 5. 2015-03-05. doi:10.1038/519005a.
  29. ^ Journal, Ben Geman, National (2015-03-02). "Grijalva: Climate Letters Went Too Far in Seeking Correspondence". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2020-09-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  30. ^ "How has science shaped COVID policy? New global project seeks to find out". CU Boulder Today. 2020-09-01. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
  31. ^ Pielke, Roger (2013-08-01). "How can FIFA be held accountable?". Sport Management Review. 16 (3): 255–267. doi:10.1016/j.smr.2012.12.007. ISSN 1441-3523.
  32. ^ Pielke Jr, Roger (2015-01-29). "Gather data to reveal true extent of doping in sport". Nature News. 517 (7536): 529. doi:10.1038/517529a.
  33. ^ Jr, Roger Pielke (2017-10-02). "Sugar, spice and everything nice: how to end 'sex testing' in international athletics". International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics. 9 (4): 649–665. doi:10.1080/19406940.2017.1369448. ISSN 1940-6940.
  34. ^ Jr, Roger Pielke (2019-05-17). "Caster Semenya ruling: sports federation is flouting ethics rules". Nature. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01606-8.
  35. ^ Pielke, Roger (May 1993). "A reappraisal of the Space Shuttle programme" (PDF). Space Policy. 9 (2): 133–157. doi:10.1016/0265-9646(93)90027-7. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  36. ^ Pielke, Roger (2002-09-16). "When, not if, we lose another shuttle, what then?". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  37. ^ Pielke, Roger; Byerly, Radford (1992). "The Space Shuttle Program: "Performance Versus Promise"" (PDF). In Radford Byerly (ed.). Space Policy Alternatives. Westview Press. pp. 223–247. ISBN 978-0813386188. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
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