The plutocratic corruption of American politicians is ruining the country’s health and accelerating humanity’s extinction. The obliteration of science under Republican President Donald Trump is only the sad conclusion to a trend which was notably pronounced under President George W. Bush and earlier Republican administrations (with one notable exception). Even Democratic President Barack Obama ignored science to benefit business.
20th century presidential administrations regularly ignored science. Democratic President Lyndon Johnson got science reports on pollution which got no response. Republican President Richard Nixon had more sense when it came to addressing the environmental excesses of American corporations, though it was not nearly enough. Nixon’s efforts were essentially undone by Republican President Ronald Reagan and left unaddressed by the administrations that followed.
In the 21st century, as President, Bush Jr. ignored climate science findings to continue polluting as usual. President Obama did the same, most notably when it came to the egregious pollution of groundwater caused by fracking. (President Obama was never anything more than Bush Jr. Lite; a wimp of a president, but well liked for not being the abject liar and blowhard that Dubya had been.)
President Trump has taken destruction in every sense to a new presidential low; somehow science seems the least of it. Trump’s war on science on every front is most remarkable for how little it is remarked upon by federal politicians in office. But then, no politician who has announced running for President in 2020 has issued a policy statement that does anything significant about the climate and pollution crises which the country faces. At best, politicians pretend that minor adjustments, like more “clean” energy, which does not exist, are all that is needed.
“Without credible science the fundamental responsibilities of government are threatened.” ~ American environmental scientist Thomas Burke
If American politics is any indication, human extinction cannot come too soon for other life on Earth.
Sources:
Oliver Milman, “Trump administration’s war on science has hit ‘crisis point’, experts warn,” The Guardian (3 October 2019).
“Proposals for reform volume 2: national task force on rule of law & democracy,” Brennen Center for Justice (3 October 2019).
Neela Banerjee, “EPA’s fracking finding misled on threat to drinking water, scientists conclude,” Inside Climate News (12 August 2016).
“Manipulation of global warming science,” Union of Concerned Scientists (2010).