Is climate change real? Does it really affect our planet and have direct consequences on it? Are we sure it’s even caused by humans? We can just ignore it right?
This is exactly what seems to be suggested by the White House after White House officials debated whether to ignore climate studies by government scientists or to develop a “fact-based message about climate science,” as seen in a memo obtained from the Washington Post.
The memo, which was drawn up September 18th brings us to the strange place where Trump’s deputies have been working tirelessly to uproot policies that aim to limit country’s carbon output, meanwhile the administration’s agencies continue to produce reports that show climate change is very much real, is human’s fault, and is a threat to the U.S.
While the memo had 3 options and didn’t show any particular support to them, one of them was to “ignore, and not seek to characterize or question, the science being conducted by Federal agencies and outside entities,” not bothering to show off the Federal scientist’s findings, and almost ignoring them.
All the while scientists have been ringing warning bells about climate change’s effects such as rising sea-levels and wildfires and top Trump officials can neither support nor deny these findings.
Even more frightening yet is the administration cutting back some federal climate programs and curb the grants given to outside researchers that are focused on climate change. NASA’s Carbon Monitoring System was canceled due to a lack of funding, although Congress is thankfully trying to restore it.
How is it that the administration is spending can afford a billion dollar military and yet can’t afford to fund programs and systems focused on climate change, a real and increasing danger?