Comment Re:Don't single out EPA (Score 2) 355
In actuality, this restriction would have essentially zero impact on the scientific conclusions: it's just a way to attempt to block action on climate change. People could say, "But hey, some fraction of this data was gleaned from private sources," and use that as an attempt to throw out the whole thing, despite the fact that removing the private data doesn't change the overall conclusion.
Stop politicizing Science. It doesn't matter if some people want to use the phrase "some fraction of this data was gleaned from private sources" as an excuse to block action. Action is irrelevant to Science. Science is about knowledge. Science doesn't have a timeline. Science is not about what *you* want.
The proper scientific way is to accept objections every day, every year, every century, forever. It's the only honest way of testing, and retesting, conclusions. Sure it sucks for you that maybe there will be arguments in a hundred years about what you now believe to be true, and you could be wrong right now, or you could be right and you're just impatient that some people don't agree with you.
Grow up. Science is not politics. It's not about action, it's about reasoning and truthful argumentation for as long as it takes.
Truthful debate requires public scrutiny, period. Any private (hidden or proprietary) data doesn't advance the scientific debate. It's just hearsay. And while that is still information, it's not ever clear if it's disinformation. So it should not be cited, or relied upon, as sooner or later somebody else will have to redo the work in public. And if they can't then all the work that was done based off the private data may have to be thrown out.
The history of Science is full of cases where beliefs that were based on "trustworthy" reports and experiments were thrown out hundreds of years later, when someone got the courage to redo a settled bit of Science. Science moves slowly. Accept it, and stop trying to justify your political views from the authority of Science. If you want something political done now, argue from political grounds. That is the proper way. That is the only honest way.