Should scientists participate in demonstrations against tax breaks on fossils? Not according to Louise Fresco (2/10). Activist scientists are said to “confuse personal feelings with scientific facts,” fueling the view that science is just opinion. I am one of those activist scientists. I stood on the A12, recognizable by my jacket. This is a choice I made based on my knowledge of scientific insights. Economists find little evidence of the benefit of ending fossil tax benefits, Fresco writes. This is simply not true, as I know as an environmental economist with thirty years of research experience in this field. Unlike Frisco, who has an agricultural education, I stick to my scientific lines when I say with my colleagues that we must end tax breaks for big polluters as soon as possible. In doing so, I am not presenting an unfounded opinion in the climate debate. Rather, I am drawing attention, based on scientific foundations, to a problem that we know cannot wait. It is wrong to suggest that activist scientists are unable to separate feelings from facts. In order for science not to be described as mere opinion, we as academics should not stay away from the barricades, but rather we should stay away from such insinuations.
Professor of Environmental Economics at Tilburg University
A version of this article also appeared in the October 5, 2023 newspaper.
