James Cook University may have damaged its reputation with a heavy-handed approach to the academic with minority views on climate change and the reef
I hate to say it, but the sacking of professor Peter Ridd by James Cook University does raise issues of academic freedom. Not simple issues, and ones that can be refuted as the university is doing, but ones that matter nonetheless.
While we (Colin, Gary and Mark) disagree with his position on the science and how he allegedly categorises the activists/commentators working in the area, we absolutely support the idea that academic freedom must extend to opinions we don’t agree with – otherwise the concept is rendered meaningless
I hate to say it because we know what this is really about. The cause of Ridd has been championed by those parts of the media and certain institutes – well, the Institute of Public Affairs – that have done all they humanly can to stop serious action in this country against climate change.
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They have no interest in fair-minded coverage of the weight of scientific evidence, now overwhelming, that human action is causing global warming, and that urgent action is required globally to limit its dangerous impacts. Their interest is ideological, with an endearing lack of self-awareness in their charge that the “warmists” are the ideologues. They leap on the 3% or so of scientists who argue their colleagues have got it all wrong, and would risk everything on those odds.
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Read the rest of this news story
Alcorn, G. (2018) Peter Ridd’s sacking pushes the limit of academic freedom. The Guardian. 5 June. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/05/peter-ridds-sacking-pushes-the-limit-of-academic-freedom
