By Ben Thorp
Quotes in story on Steven Koonin visit at Purdue University:
Gernot Wagner is a climate economist with NYU and one of the signatories on a piece in Scientific American that calls Koonin’s conclusions “scientifically empty.” He said Koonin’s arguments run counter to science and logic.
“Look, we know enough to act,” Wagner said. “We know enough to know that the stuff we can quantify, the stuff we can translate into dollars and cents is bad enough, it points in one and only one direction.”
“The unsettling thing is when a scientist comes along and says there are uncertainties and therefore we shouldn’t act — it goes counter to everything I know,” he said. “When you see risk, you manage, you mitigate … the only proper response is to say there are lots and lots of risks out there — let’s mitigate those risks!”
In: “Purdue University brings climate skeptic to campus as part of speaker series,” by Ben Thorp, WFYI Indianapolis, 19 October 2021.