"Well, I'm a scientist. I believe in peer-reviewed science, you know, but I don't see any peer-reviewed science that proves there is any, you know, man-made catastrophic climate change."
- Rep. Dan Benishek (R-Mich.)
First of all, Dr. Benishek, let's get something straight here. Being a medical industry professional and a surgeon does not automatically make you a scientist. It does, however, most likely make you a well-paid technician. So unless you have participated or are participating presently in some form of peer-reviewed medical research, you cannot make the claim that you are a scientist. And, really, if your participation is all in the past, then you are not a practicing scientist, and arguably nothing more than a science commentator or communicator at this point with the earned title attached to your name. Secondly, even if you just stepped out of a lab where you discovered a cure for cancer, that does not mean you now get to casually determine which scientific consensus the rest of us are allowed to embrace. And, finally, even were you a climate scientist, that still does not qualify you to dismiss the science underpinning the dangers of anthropogenic climate change.
Most of the time, when someone actually is a scientist, he or she does not need these simple notions explained to him or her. However, it seems like whenever you put that "R" after a politician's name, the explanation becomes obligatory.
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