LETTER: Professor’s commentary full of debunked notions about global warming
The Friday commentary, “Dogma disguised as science” by William Happer, made me wonder why a Princeton physics professor would write an essay full of debunked notions about global warming. It reminded me of astronomer/physicist Robert Jastrow’s change from inspiring Apollo-era author to “hired gun” arguing against tobacco links to cancer or sulfur pollution links to acid rain. Mr. Jastrow strongly opposed any government regulation and argued for more study, never action.
As it turns out, Mr. Happer followed in Mr. Jastrow’s footsteps to work at the same industry-funded think tank, with Mr. Happer adding “carbon dioxide is good for you” arguments to a decade of delaying actions fought against carbon regulation.
I’m grateful to Mr. Jastrow for his astronomy books, and I’m grateful Mr. Happer helped invent “adaptive optics” that remove blur so observatory telescopes can see more clearly. But Happer’s anti-warming efforts are outside his Princeton day-job expertise, and seek to blur scientific debate not clarify it. Mr. Happer visited Trump Tower last month. I hope President Trump also listens to scientists who actually study climate change, not just critics-for-hire such as Mr. Happer.