(Editor’s note: This is Part 1 of a two-part series discussing the battle between science and public policy in America)
President Donald Trump may waver on several policy issues, but one area in which there can be little doubt about his intentions is creating a pro-growth, pro-business environment. In the United States, this is an agenda which cannot be moved forward without a strong pro-energy stance. The progressive movement, which has gambled heavily on its crusade to shape global economies around radical environmentalist policies, is now faced with the prospect of fighting an administration determined to roll back that crusade.
To progressives, winning the environmental argument is the Holy Grail that gives them the power to control education, finance, trade, healthcare, technology, and infrastructure development. If the world’s political leaders can be coerced into making policy that is primarily driven by the need to prevent anthropomorphic climate change from irrevocably damaging the natural environment, then just about every aspect of human activity can be strictly regulated.
In Barack Obama, the left had a champion who could wield real power in this fight. They could almost smell victory and, after Obama, they knew Hillary Clinton would eagerly pick up the torch and further advance their quest for political and economic domination through environmentalism.
Then the unthinkable happened; Donald Trump’s brash, boisterous and optimistic message swept aside the bland and unappealing Clinton platform of “vote for me, or we’re all doomed.” America was built on optimism. Barack Obama understood something that Clinton never could; in America, optimism trumps pessimism every time; it is the pun that could almost have been The Donald’s campaign slogan.
Pessimism, however, is what powers the message of anthropomorphic climate change; that our very way of life will destroy us all and that it’s almost too late to save us. Most Americans aren’t buying it and never did, so the progressives turned to science. Citing endless scientific studies and government reports, the radical environmentalists browbeat their opponents with scientific data showing the "dangers" of climate change. Dare to question them, and they express outrage that their science is being questioned. Science, however, is all about questioning, challenging, developing theories and then putting those theories to the test, using pure, untainted and completely objective scientific investigation and research. Any scientific theory that is ‘proven’ by those determined only to prove it is no valid theory.
Trump has fired the first salvo in what will, no doubt, become the most tumultuous fight his administration will face in the next four years. He appointed Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); a man who has come to be known as, possibly, the agency’s fiercest critic.
Progressives are now looking at an all-out assault upon one of their centerpiece strategies, and they’re very worried.
The March For Science is their counter-punch. Portrayed as a movement to protect, defend and promote all things science, it made an early appearance this past weekend in Boston, Massachusetts, with a public demonstration. Per Scientific American, the event was sponsored by the Sierra Club of Massachusetts, Greenpeace USA and an obscure group calling themselves the Union of Concerned Scientists, which – on its web page – rages against “notorious climate deniers,” ExxonMobil and “corporate attacks”; mostly, however, they ask for money.
The heavy political bias of each one of these organizations should not be lost on anyone. Even as the progressive left pretends to champion science, it has no interest at all in objective scientific research. As Al Gore used to say (on his way to amassing a personal fortune of some $300 million) “the science is settled.”
The science, however, is never settled until proven beyond all possible question – something that not one reputable scientist anywhere is willing to say, regarding the question of man-made global warming.
This fight is just getting underway. President Trump means to scale back environmental regulation, to unleash the full potential of American commerce and energy production. The progressives aim to fight tooth and nail to preserve their most potent weapon -- environmentalism. It is a battle that neither side can afford to lose and it will be the most heated policy battle this country will see for years to come.
(Tomorrow: Part 2 of this series as we continue to examine the battle over environmental control.)
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