Introduction

Abstract

In April 2016 Bill Nye, American TV personality, trusted expert, and self-declared “Science Guy”, triggered a small scandal. According to The Washington Times, Nye had proposed that climate change dissent was made a criminal, even jailable, offence (Richardson 2016). “Was it appropriate to jail the guys from Enron?” Nye was quoted as saying, continuing “Was it appropriate to jail people from the cigarette industry who insisted that this addictive product was not addictive, and so on?” (Richardson 2016). His words raise some provocative questions. How should societies respond to individuals, groups, and industries that query widely held scientific opinions? Do those who do so deliberately mislead the public? Is it appropriate to compare climate change scepticism and denial with the deliberate and scandalous deception of stakeholder and regulatory authorities by Enron executives, a deception that ultimately led to the downfall of that once powerful corporation and the loss of jobs and pensions of thousands of its employees?