Shutting Down the War on Science

I was listening to This American Life's latest podcast, which was about the inauguration and all things Obama.

One part of the program talked about an event that Obama did not attend, it was on November 19, 2008, after he was elected, but before he was President. Instead of going in person, he sent a video.

This was a conference on climate change. It was in California and was hosted by Arnold Schwartzeneggar. They described how all these climate change scientists got emotional about the video. It was the first time they had see someone from the White House (soon to be from the White House) actually acknowledge the problem and give concrete goals to be aimed for.

Many of the podcasts I listen to are science based and only since Bush has been leaving office have they really been talking about what they are now starting to call the "War on Science". Bush's record on science may have been dismal, but society and industry's use of and belief in science has flagged over the last few years as well. Whether it's stem cells, climate change, or evolution, many of the religious community see science as a force opposing their beliefs, and many of the political right see it as attacking their business interests.

Obama sees science as a critical cornerstone of our society and a source of our prosperity. If he does half of what he says he is going to do, we've got a chance of digging ourselves out of this hole. I'm hopeful it will start to turn things around.

Many of the scientists at the conference had an emotional reaction to the President-elect's speech. This was the first time someone had acknowledged their hard work and promised not only to not actively thwart their efforts, but to help them. To these warriors that have been on the wrong side of the war on science, the ground has shifted and for the first time, they have reason to hope that they may be allowed to start the work of saving the planet.

Bush spent a great deal of the last couple of months worrying about how misunderstood he was and how he was going to preserve his legacy. He wants to make sure that years from now, people will finally agree with what he did and vindicate his low poll numbers while he was in office. I see things differently. I think 50 or 100 years from now, people will question why we tolerated such a dangerously willfully ignorant leader and why we didn't rise up sooner to get rid of him. I think they'll lament all the damage we could have prevented if only we had had the last 8 years to start turning things around. History will not vidicate Bush, it will eviserate him.