by Ronald Bailey

About the author: Ronald Bailey is the science correspondent for Reason, a libertarian magazine and author of ECO-SCAM: The False Prophets of the Ecological Apocalypse.

“That kind of information is dangerous,” scolded Jodi Cassell. Cassell, who works with the California Sea Grant Extension program, was speaking at a symposium on “Alien Species in Coastal Waters: What Are the Real Ecological and Social Costs"” at the February 2000 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting in Washington, D.C. She wasn’t alone in her alarm. “We have members of the press here,” warned a member of the audience. “I am very concerned that they might think that his view is the dominant view.”

The target of this shushing was...