From: The Honest Broker
By: Roger Pielke Jr.
Date: October 2, 2025
When the science police don't understand the science they are policing
Over at The Climate Brink, Andrew Dessler and Zeke Hausfather have taken on the role of self-appointed sheriffs of climate science, at times in highly partisan and personal terms. Recently, Dessler, along with another scientist, Robert Kopp, and dozens of others, prepared a lengthy response to the Department of Energy’s Climate Working Group (DOE CWG) report.
Today, Dessler posted a further critique of the DOE CWG — Is this the most embarrassing error in the DOE Climate Working Group Report? Dessler’s post is remarkable for the simple fact that he reveals in great detail that he does not understand the science he is policing.
The focus of Dessler’s post is his claim that the DOE CWG authors fail to appreciate the distinction between the concepts detection and attribution and time of emergence — and this represents “the central flaw” in the DOE CWG report.
In fact, as I show undeniably below, Dessler’s post reveals that he actually does not understand IPCC terminology or its application. Irony abounds. Someone should be embarrassed, and it’s not the DOE CWG authors.
Let’s dive into the details. (continue reading)