Never? There are several excellent programs specifically designed to train climate scientists to talk to the press. I’ve been through one. Some scientists take to this, and are excellent at it - people like Kathryn Hayhoe and Mike Mann. But the personal cost is huge, as they get bombarded with nonsense, including the occasional death threat. Entering the fray is not something to do lightly.
But for the most part, the skillset that makes for a brilliant scientist has little overlap with the skillset that makes someone a good public speaker. So telling scientists to be better communicators is very much an “attack the messenger” strategy. It’s not the scientist’s fault that you do not have enough of an education to understand their technical papers. And it’s not the scientist’s job to take time out to explain it to you. We need scientists to do science, and we need communicators to communicate. In most case, it works a lot better if it’s not the same person trying to do both.
So rather than attacking scientists, attack the politicians who have, over the decades, so stripped public education of resources that very few people have any kind of science literacy any more. Attack the fossil fuel lobbyists who have poured money into one of the biggest disinformation campaigns ever waged. Attack the entire neo-liberal establishment that has prioritized short term profit-taking over long term sustainability. But don’t attack the scientists.
