A new book by Michael Mann and Peter
Hotz, Science Under Siege: How to Fight the Five Most Powerful Forces
That Threaten Our World, was recently reviewed by climate impact scientist
Roger Pielke Jr. As his title – The Scientists Who Declared War on
America – suggests, Pielke Jr. interprets the book as a call to arms
by activist scientists. I have argued previously that Michael Mann focuses
heavily on demonizing fossil fuel interests. I have read one of his books and a
few of his scientific articles. I once heard him speak. I was expecting
science, but got politics. Apparently, they mention hundreds of people they
disagree with in the book, including Pielke Jr. and Dr. Judith Curry, who I
also heard speak, and found her more interested in science than politics.
Pielke Jr. suggests that they basically demonize those they don’t like. He says
that when people of the future look back at the past politicization of science,
they will refer to this book. He also notes that:
“The central argument of the book is apocalyptic.
“The future of humankind and the health of our planet
now depend on surmounting the dark forces of antiscience” (p. 3)
“Unless we find a way to overcome antiscience, humankind
will face its gravest threat yet – the collapse of civilization as we know it.”
(p. 27)
Mann and Hotez, a virologist,
mainly attack Republicans in the book, he says. They also attack some Democrats
and centrists who do not share their beliefs. They apparently see themselves as
battling the forces of anti-science and evoke Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings for
analogies. They feel that the Republican Party is threatening civilization.
Below is an example graphic that Pielke Jr. shows from the book about the
‘ecosystem of anti-science.’ As can be seen, they classify the “enemy” into
five types, the five Ps: Plutocrats, Petrostates, Pros, Propagandists, and
Press. I don’t see that classification as particularly useful or accurate.
He notes that they seem to
especially vilify a few specific fellow climate activists like James Hansen and
David Wallace-Wells. I found that odd, but apparently, they have some strong
disagreements.
Pielke Jr. writes:
“Apart from a self-inflated sense of their own role in
their imagined global war for the future of humanity, Mann and Hotez do offer a
few real-world policy recommendations: Specifically, eliminating the filibuster
in the U.S. Senate and expanding the U.S. Supreme Court from nine to 13, but
only after Democrats have won the presidency and the House and Senate.”
“Ultimately, Mann and Hotez are calling for the
scientific community to join their war and to organize itself in opposition to
Republicans, to become even more partisan.”
“What is notable is the degree to which Mann and Hotez
have come to represent and speak for the broader scientific community. From
this perspective, they are simply a symptom—an extreme one, no doubt—of a
broader trend of intense politicization within the scientific community, and
particularly the leadership of authoritative scientific institutions.”
Pielke Jr. sees the book and
its authors as leaders of partisan politicization of science. He notes the
biases of scientific journals like Science and Nature and groups like the Union
of Concerned Scientists, all three of which were selected to review the book. I
will only reiterate that reading and listening to Mann, I am always startled at
his degree of partisanship – Pielke Jr. refers to the authors' views as “dark
partisanship.”
He finishes with the
following:
“Future historians seeking to understand how science
became so hyper-partisan in the early twenty-first century will certainly want
to explore the broader atmosphere of polarization that has enveloped American
culture. But they will also want to explore how the scientific community went
along with the politicization, not just willingly, but enthusiastically.”
“An important part of that story is the scientific
community’s warm embrace and promotion of the book’s divisive message: that
scientists are in an existential war against their fellow citizens, a war that
can only be won by vanquishing the enemy.”
References:
The
Scientists Who Declared War on Half of America: Michael Mann and Peter Hotez
call scientists into a partisan fight. Roger Pielke Jr. The Honest Broker. March
9, 2026. The
Scientists Who Declared War on Half of America
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