I'm rather dissapointed that you think Barry's inspiration and the author of many bad scifi stories is a science expert.

I share your opinion about his sci-fi. He is correct in his statements about how the public has been taught to accept pseudo-science as science. Like Sagan, he's better expousing his advice than following it. His fiction has recurrent pessimistic themes that "man should not venture here".

You and he should have learned in high school that science is about consensus. Scientific theories are no good unless they can pass muster against vigorous debate.

That's different from consensus as outlined in the essay. Just because experts uncritically accept something does not make it so, e.g. you MUST believe the global warming paradigm completely because the "experts" do. Experts whose research grants and reputations depend on it.

The theory that a greenhouse gas can be added in unlimited quantities without warming an atmosphere is not a good theory because there is 0 data to support it.

I do not believe that. As with the previous statements, you're attributing opinions to me that I do not hold. I've stated before that I BELIEVE (nobody knows) that global warming is real because of the evidence and I believe that people's use of technologies, etc. is A cause. What I do NOT believe is the degree of GW. I also believe that there are other yet unknown processes driving the climate possibly to greater extremes than lerrer man made effects. In other words I am skeptical about the mainstream CONSENSUS from GW researchers. Why are they so freaked out by the Lombards?

In closing I say that Sagan utterly disgraced himself with the bogus TTAPS Nuclear Winter paper and its follow on. Clearly he typified an agenda "scientist" who let his politics drive his results. He made a total fool of himself with his 1st Iraq war oil well nuclear winter prophecy but he was SO enamored of his ideology that fact could not be allowed to contravene his cherished beliefs. For shame. I never thought well of him after TTAPS.

That well deserved slam being said, I loved his "Demon Haunted World" book. Recommended to all skepically inclined.