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Ronald B. Davis is an active member of Citizens Climate Lobby and a retired University of Maine professor whose opinions here are his own, not those of the university.
Our civilization depends on science. Basic science, in all its diversity, aims to understand the physics, chemistry and biology of ourselves and the universe in which we live. Applied science and technology take this understanding to produce what we need or want.
My perspective derives from my 43 years of experience as a university professor who taught science courses and carried out several research projects funded by federal agencies. My efforts took place in an environment of free inquiry and expression, open competition of ideas, collegial critical feedback and government support for basic science. In this environment, I was a small part of a grand national endeavor that thrived and grew into the most productive scientific enterprise the world had ever seen.
But now, science is under attack in America.
The Trump administration’s campaign of climate change denial, politicization of federal science and withdrawal of funding for university science is having profound negative effects on American science. Not since the religious assault on Darwinian evolutionary theory epitomized by the 1925 Scopes Trial have we seen such a fierce onslaught on American science.
The latest salvos from the Trump administration include the proposed new rules for deciding how scientific research proposals to federal agencies like the National Science Foundation are selected for funding and what they can cover. The new rules enable final approval of projects by political appointees, allowing for rejections of projects on ideological grounds.
Another recent salvo is an attempt to discredit the National Academy of Sciences for its publication of the fourth edition of a Reference Guide on Scientific Evidence, a document that presents extensive evidence on human induced climate change and its effects.
Further, while President Donald Trump has so far had only mixed success in Congress in reducing budgets for scientific research, he has drastically reduced staff at scientific and environmental agencies, frozen or canceled billions of dollars of scientific research funding to universities, discouraged international scientists from moving to this country, and shifted support toward targeted commercial and security technologies — away from the broader science that has been so successful in leading to improvements in the human condition.
These policies are threatening America’s leadership in science and the welfare of its citizens. Will American science be able to recover from this assault? Not without many more citizens speaking out and, I believe, voting to replace retrogressive politicians in Washington with more thoughtful and farsighted ones who understand science and its role in benefiting Americans and others around the world.role in benefiting Americans and others around the world.