116 — Science and Politics, A Conversation with Prof. Jessica Weinkle

Todays guest is Jessica Weinkle, Associate Professor of Public
Policy at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and Senior
Fellow at The Breakthrough Institute. 


In this episode we explore a range of topics and we start with
the question: What is ecomodernism, and how does The Breakthrough
Institute and Jessica interpret it? 


“It's not a movement of can'ts”


Why are environmentalists selective about technology acceptance?
Why do we assess  ecological impact through bodies like the
IPCC and frameworks like Planetary Boundaries? Are simplified
indicators of complex systems genuinely helpful or
misleading? 


Is contemporary science more about appearances than substance,
and do scientific journals serve more and more as advocacy
platforms than fact-finding missions? How much should activism
and science intersect? To what extent do our beliefs influence
science, and vice versa, especially when financial interests are
at play in fields like climate science? Can we trust scientific
integrity when narratives are tailored for publication, like in
the case of Patrick Brown?


What responsibilities do experts have when consulting in
political spheres, and should they present options or advocate
for specific actions?  How has research publishing turned
into big business, and what does this mean for the pursuit of
truth? 


“Experts should always say: here are your options A, B, C...;
not: I think you should do A”


How does modeling shape global affairs? When we use models for
decision-making, are we taking them too literally, or should we
focus on their broader implications? 


“To take a model literally is not to take it seriously […] the
models are useful to give us some ideas, but the specificity is
not where we should focus.”


What's the connection between scenario building, modeling, and
risk management? 


“There is an institutional and professional incentive to make big
claims, to draw attention. […] That's what we get rewarded for.
[…] It does create an incentive to push ideas that are not
necessarily the most helpful ideas for addressing public
problems.”


How does the public venue affect scientists, and does the
incentive to make bold claims for attention come at the cost of
practical solutions? What lessons should we have learned from
cases like Jan Hendrik Schön, and why haven't we? 


“There is an underappreciation for the extent to which scholarly
publishing is a business, a big media business. It's not just all
good moral virtue around skill and enlightenment. It's money,
fame and fortune.”


Finally, are narratives about future scenarios fueling climate
anxiety, and how should we address this in science communication
and policy-making?


“There is a freedom in uncertainty and there is also an
opportunity to create decisions that are more robust to an
unpredictable future. The more that we say we are certain ... the
more vulnerable we become to the uncertainty that we are
pretending is not there.”


Other Episodes


Episode 109: Was ist Komplexität? Ein Gespräch mit Dr. Marco
Wehr

Episode 107: How to Organise Complex Societies? A
Conversation with Johan Norberg

Episode 90: Unintended Consequences (Unerwartete Folgen)

Episode 86: Climate Uncertainty and Risk, a conversation with
Dr. Judith Curry

Episode 79: Escape from Model Land, a Conversation with Dr.
Erica Thompson

Episode 76: Existentielle Risiken

Episode 74: Apocalype Always

Episode 70: Future of Farming, a conversation with Padraic
Flood

Episode 68: Modelle und Realität, ein Gespräch mit Dr.
Andreas Windisch

Episode 60: Wissenschaft und Umwelt — Teil 2

Episode 59: Wissenschaft und Umwelt — Teil 1



References


Jessica Weinkle

Jessica on Substack

Jessica at The Breakthrough Institute

Jessica at the Department of Public and International
Affairs (UNCW)



The Breakthrough Journal

Planetary Boundaries (Stockholm Resilience Centre)

Patrick T. Brown, I Left Out the Full Truth to Get My Climate
Change Paper Published, The FP (2023)

Roger Pielke Jr., What the media won't tell you about . . .
hurricanes (2022)

Roger Pielke Jr., "When scientific integrity is undermined in
pursuit of financial and political gain" (2023)

Many other excellent articles Roger Pielke on his Substack
The Honest Broker

Jessica Weinkle, Model me this (2024)

Jessica Weinkle, How Planetary Boundaries Captured Science,
Health, and Finance (2024)

Jessica Weinkle, Bias. Undisclosed conflicts of interest are
a serious problem in the climate change literature (2025)

Marcia McNutt, The beyond-two-degree inferno, Science
Editorial (2015)

Scientific American editor quits after anti-Trump comments,
Unherd (2024)

Erica Thompson, Escape from Model Land, Basic Books (2022)