Scientists are calling for boycott of NY Times over op-ed by climate science denialist

Desdemona Despair

By Carli Velocci
28 April 2017

(The Wrap) – Multiple scientists and climate change advocates are calling for a boycott of The New York Times after an op-ed that they felt pushed anti-climate change agendas.

The Friday column, the first written by Bret Stephens for the publication, uses the argument that data doesn’t always convey reality to make the point that climate change isn’t definite, despite evidence that supports the claim.

He refers partially to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential run, chronicled in the recent book “Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign.” Authors Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes wrote that the campaign relied too much on data, one of the many things that led to its downfall. […]

Stephens’ hiring — announced on April 12 — has been a point of contention for many Times readers thanks to his long history of writing insulting phrases in his columns in regards to Islamophobia, sexual assault, and, of course, climate change.

Stephens came over from The Wall Street Journal, where he was a conservative columnist who mostly wrote about foreign policy. However, he would on occasion write about climate change, often iterating that activists can manipulate evidence to support their claims.

In a 2009 WSJ article no longer on the official website, Stephens said: “climate alarmists have become brilliantly adept at changing their terms to suit their convenience.”

In 2011, he wrote that climate change is a “religion without God […] presided over by a caste of spectacularly unattractive people pretending to an obscure form of knowledge.” […]

Stefan Rahmstorf, head of Earth System Analysis at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact research, posted his letter to The New York Times editor on why he was canceling his subscription.

“The Times has denounced the critics of its decision as ‘left-leaning,’” he wrote in part. “There is no left-leaning or right-leaning climate science, just as there is no Republican or Democrat theory of gravity. I have several good climate scientist friends who are lifelong republicans. Their understanding of climate change does not differ from mine, because it is informed by evidence.” [more]

Scientists Are Calling for NY Times Boycott Over Op-Ed by ‘Climate Change Denier’