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Conservation Science and Advocacy for a Planet in Peril
Speaking Truth to Power
1st Edition - August 18, 2021
Editor: Dominick A. DellaSala
Paperback ISBN:9780128129883
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eBook ISBN:9780128129890
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Conservation Science and Advocacy for a Planet in Peril: Speaking Truth to Power helps equip scientists working on environmental and sustainability challenges with new tactics for… Read more
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Conservation Science and Advocacy for a Planet in Peril: Speaking Truth to Power helps equip scientists working on environmental and sustainability challenges with new tactics for success. Global efforts and cooperation by member states of environmental conventions have steadily increased but lack efficient and scalable mechanisms of translating conservation science to policy. The gap between science and policy is growing and very little time remains before the climate change and biodiversity lossess trigger widespread disruptions of the planet's life support systems. This book covers these important topics, providing a must read for environmental and conservation scientists, climate change activists, students, social scientists, economic professionals, sustainable businesses and policymakers.
Provides an unprecedented collection of local, regional, and national case studies from scientists and practitioners engaged in outreach to decision makers and the public
Covers personal accounts that bring science into policymaking, providing usable guidelines for those working to bridge this gap
Includes the requisite information needed for effective communications and campaign strategies by sharing lessons learned
Cover image
Title page
Table of Contents
Copyright
List of contributors
Biographies
Foreword: uncensored science is crucial for global conservation
Science is needed today more than ever
Truth is the enemy of special interests
Censorship, as Dominick DellaSala realized in choosing chapters for this book, is a problem for conservation
Scientific reticence can amount to self-censorship
Something was wrong with ice sheet models
I was stunned by the model result
In 2007, I read papers of geologist Paul Hearty and initiated correspondence with him
Providentially, I was invited to give the Bjerknes lecture at the American Geophysical Union meeting in 2008
Karina von Schuckmann analyzes data from thousands of Argo floats that were distributed around the world ocean during the first decade of this century
How could we make the sea level threat and its implications clearer?
Resistance by scientists to scientific discovery is widely acknowledged, even though it clashes with the vision of science as open-minded and unbiased
Blackballing by grand poohbahs includes both resistance to discovery and censorship
Reframing was based on real-world data
Late in 2014—during the holidays—I received a message from an angel (Douglas Durst)
Referee responses to Ice Melt varied
Prior analyses of ocean circulation focused on AMOC
Shutdown of SMOC is a powerful feedback
Precipitation feedback is also important
Mother nature threw a curve ball
Let us consider the main threats of climate change, the implications for policy, and the benefits that will accrue from positive action
The United States and China must cooperate
Follow the science, not popularism
Let me give a second example of popularism
President Biden has invigorated the climate issue in the United States
Speaking truth to power: closing thoughts
Further reading
Preface
Section I: Scientists as Advocates: Advocacy Should not be a Four-Letter Word
1. The nuts and bolts of science-based advocacy
Abstract
A revolution in scientific thinking
What’s at risk?
Taking the planetary Hippocratic Oath to avoid silent complicity
Applying the precautionary principle
What is the best available science?
How we communicate matters
Speaking Truth to Power: Who Speaks for the Earth?
References
2. When scientists are attacked: strategies for dissident scientists and whistleblowers
Abstract
Contrarians and dissidents
Challenging the dominant forestry paradigm: a case study
Before you dissent
Getting your ideas out
After the first blow lands
Continuing the fight
Speaking Truth to Power
References
Further Reading
3. Sounding the climate alarm—scientists and politics
Abstract
The context
The science
The politics
The economics
The scientists
Speaking truth to power
References
Further reading
4. Science integrity and environmental decision-making in Canada: a fragile renaissance
Abstract
Scientific integrity and public policy
Fabrications versus facts: how scientists can defend scientific integrity
Scientific integrity in Canada: a dark age
Recovering scientific integrity and environmental governance
References
5. Blowing the whistle on political interference: the Northern Spotted Owl
Abstract
In the beginning, there was the owl
What the owl needs
How a 46-cm bird stopped the timber industry in its tracks
The politics of the Northwest Forest Plan and owl recovery
Wildfire as the new flexibility excuse
Distinguishing cause from effect: is wildfire a threat or an excuse to log?
What’s next for the owl and the Northwest Forest Plan
We all lose when scientific integrity takes a back seat
Speaking Truth to Power
References
Section II: An Imperfect Marriage: Policy and Science
6. Overcoming the politics of endangered species listings
Abstract
The US Endangered Species Act—a global model
What species qualify for threatened and endangered status under the ESA
Delays and failure to list species under the ESA start early
Public pressure gains protection for species
Case studies of political interference in the listing process
Greater Sage Grouse
Montana arctic grayling
Streaked Horned Lark
References
7. Scientific integrity and advocacy: keeping the government honest
Abstract
When politics invades the weather forecast
Science has always been political
Political and industry pressure on science ramps up
Building a movement to defend science
Monitoring the federal government
Candidates and their commitments
Public access to government knowledge
Defending scientific integrity abroad
Scientific integrity and the Trump administration
Environmental Protection Agency attempts to remove science and science advice
The future of scientific integrity reform
Speaking truth to power: experts as advocates
References
8. Why advocate—and how?
Abstract
Why advocate
How to advocate
Science-based advocacy implications
Speaking truth to power: closing thoughts
Acknowledgments
References
9. Climate reality leadership
Abstract
Keep hope alive
The problem
Climate deniers
The solution
Climate Reality Project
International chapters
Global change can happen
Speaking truth to power: thoughts and solutions
References
Section III: The Politics of Science in Decision Making
10. Out of the ivory tower: campaign-based science messaging for the public
Abstract
Does science matter?
Snowball climate denial
The politicization of science
Scientists as storytellers
The Cannabis Removal on Public Lands story: a case study in science-based campaigns
Speaking truth to power: closing thoughts
References
11. Essays from the trenches of science-based activism
Abstract
How the Trump Administration tried to cancel the Interior Department
Why scientists should talk to elected officials
Lobbying 101: tips to effective legislative advocacy online
12. Shifting the burden of proof to minimize impacts during the science-policy process
Abstract
Who should carry the burden of proof during an adaptive management process?
The DNR HCP: Marbled Murrelet Long-Term Conservation Strategy
Forest Practices HCP: unstable slopes and landslide hazards
The science and policy surrounding the improvement of rules governing logging on potentially unstable slopes
The December 2007 storm
The 2014 Oso landslide
Board manual section 16 revision
Unstable slopes proposal initiation
An urgent call for precautionary forest climate policy
Speaking truth to power: who should carry the burden of proof during an adaptive management process?
References
13. To zero emissions, and beyond? Oregon Stumbles forward
Abstract
Introduction
Prologue: a tale of three sessions
Oregon’s changing climate
Fitful progress: Oregon’s coming to terms with climate change
Electricity—the Boardman chapter
Electricity—the end-of-coal chapter
Electricity—the capping carbon chapter
Transportation—Oregon loses its way
Forest carbon—an opportunity opens up
The Governor’s executive order
The why and wherefore: failures of governance and of imagination
References
14. The politics of conservation—taking the biodiversity crisis to the streets
Abstract
The disconnect
Forcing change
Mobilization
Speaking truth to power: final thoughts
References
15. When science is silenced: scientists fighting back against the politicization of their work
Abstract
Weaponized use of open records laws against scientists
Censorship of scientists for political reasons
Congressional abuse
Speaking truth to power: final thoughts
References
Further reading
16. Speaking truth to power for the Earth
Abstract
Science as denial's antidote
Speaking truth to power vs. remaining complicit
Human and planet health are intertwined
A cosmic perspective
Speaking Truth to Power: Epilogue
References
Index
No. of pages: 450
Language: English
Published: August 18, 2021
Imprint: Elsevier
Paperback ISBN: 9780128129883
eBook ISBN: 9780128129890
DD
Dominick A. DellaSala
Dominick DellaSala, Ph. D, is Chief Scientist of Wild Heritage, a project of the Earth Island Institute, and former President of the Society for Conservation Biology, North America. He is an internationally renowned scholar of over 200 publications on forest ecology, endangered species, conservation biology, and climate change. Dominick has given keynote talks ranging from academic conferences to the United Nations Earth Summit. He has been featured in hundreds of news stories and documentaries, testified in the US congress numerous times, and received conservation leadership and book writing awards. He is on the editorial board of Elsevier’s Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences, co-chief editor of Elsevier’s Encyclopedia of the Anthropocene, The World’s Biomes, and Encyclopedia of Conservation; Co-editor the Ecological Importance of Mixed Severity Fires: Nature’s Phoenix (Elsevier), editor and author of the award winning Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World: Ecology and Conservation; and subject editor of several scientific journals. He is driven by a passion to save life on Earth for his daughters, grandkids, and future generations.
Affiliations and expertise
Chief Scientist, Wild Heritage, a project of the Earth Island Institute