You would think that “Climate-Gate” is old news, but once the Right latches onto a piece of red meat, it doesn’t let go. But let’s be clear: it is truly a Pseudo-Scandal for Dummies.

The reason I feel confident saying that, despite the fact that I have little in-depth knowledge of climatology, is simple: even a distant understanding of the scientific method disproves the narrative of corruption. You don’t need to have a fine grasp of the  science itself.

At the heart oif the scientific method is peer-review — both formal and informal. The idea is to be transparent about one’s science and allow others to try to replicate one’s experiments. If they succeed, it strengthens one’s case; if they fail, it goes to disprove one’s hypothesis.

“Climate-gate” is not about published, peer-reviewed science at all; it’s about scientists’ emails back and forth during the process.  Scientists are people, but people who adhere to the scientific method. “Climate-gate” only shows that those folks: A) really dislike the climate-change deniers who go around muddying the scientific waters — exactly as one might expect of nerdy climatologists, and B) are aware of the fact that their field is highly politicized, a statement as obvious as “the sky is blue.” Nothing in the emails suggest that their peer-reviewed science was bad, or fraudulent — the central claims of those pushing the story.

So here’s the deal in very straight terms: scientific fraud only occurs when scientists falsify their published data; when they try to mislead their peers — fellow researchers with real knowledge of the subject at hand. One cannot commit scientific fraud in an email to one’s nerdy colleagues.

Nobody has offered any scientific criticism (as opposed to politically informed arguments) of the integrity of any of the published work of the researchers involved in “Climate-Gate.” Zip, zilch, rien.

So while I won’t pretend to know the granular details of the science involved, it’s for that reason that I can nonetheless say with surety that “Climate-Gate” is an inherently unserious and trumped-up scandal that shouldn’t be taken seriously by anyone who is concerned about getting the facts straight. It’s not a science scandal, it’s a political fracas.

Or, in other words, we’re all entitled to our opinions, but if you don’t have a grasp of the basics of the scientific method then perhaps you should keep your scientific opinions to yourself.

<end rant>