The Pseudoscientific Smearing of Steve Koonin

Power Hour with Alex Epstein

On April 27th, physicist Steve Koonin, who worked in the Obama Administration’s Department of Energy, published a challenge to climate catastrophism called “Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, what It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters.”
While the climate catastrophe movement usually ignores criticisms, Koonin’s scientific standing, plus the fact that the book became a major bestseller, made this harder to do. Unfortunately, climate catastrophists have still tried their best to ignore Koonin’s arguments, and when they have engaged him it is through scientific smearing—such as an attack in Scientific American that consisted largely of ad hominems and attacking summaries of his book by a Washington Post columnist.
On this week’s episode of Power Hour, Steve Koonin joins Alex Epstein to discuss not only the smears but much of what has been happening in the climate conversation over the last 5 months, including:

- The recent IPCC report—including the curious absence of key graphs, the use of "attribution studies," and the methodology used to make climate models "hotter" even though they have typically over predicted warming in the past.
- The media’s exaggerated portrayal of the recent IPCC report.
- The positive reaction to Koonin’s book.
- What scientists have told Koonin behind the scenes.
- Koonin’s upcoming debates.