Trashing the linear model

I have been puzzled by the apparent failure of ecologists to recognize that the "deficit model" of the science policy interface is flawed. Imagine my surprise to find that John Lawton expressed exactly this idea in his 2007 presidential address to the British Ecological Society:

... research can often have noticeably little effect on policy ... There is an extensive social-science literature on why this situation, that is typically ignored by many natural scientists (just as politicians often ignore our evidence!), pertains.

So why, WHY is this message so slow to percolate through the ecological community? I just sat through a half day meeting on how to engage research on Water, Food and Energy at UNL with policy. And - they still don't get it.