The House Anti-Science Maniacs

There are numerous reasons that people Marched for Science last week. Many of us feel the need to defend science against an unprecedented assault by a wave of know-nothing politicians. For example, the President has packed the Executive Branch with the wackiest gang of science deniers, creationists, polluters, and education profiteers imaginable.

However, that doesn't tell the whole sad story. Congress has its own gang of anti-science maniacs. Perhaps the craziest of all is Chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Lamar Smith (R-TX). Smith's powerful Committee makes US science policy and controls the purse-strings for a slew of agencies, including NASA, DOE R&D, the National Science Foundation, STEM education, EPA research, and the National Weather Service.

Chairman Smith has used his position to conduct a personal war against climate science. He issued subpoenas for e-mails from NOAA climate scientists. He accused government scientists of falsifying data. He used the official Science Committee Twitter account to publicize anti-science articles from alt-fact Breitbart. Several times, he gave keynote speeches at climate-change denial conferences sponsored by the Koch-and-Exxon-funded Heartland Institute.

Smith is certainly no moderate. He was one of the first Congressmen to endorse Trump for President. He was one of the earliest supporters of the presidential candidate who tweeted that climate change is a hoax created by the Chinese to make us less competitive. In January, Smith spoke from the House Floor, "Better to get your news directly from the President. In fact, it might be the only way to get the unvarnished truth."

In a Heartland keynote speech in March, Lamar Smith spoke to the global-warming denying attendees: "Next week we’re going to have a hearing on our favorite subject of climate change and also on the scientific method, which has been repeatedly ignored by the so-called, self-professed climate scientists."

True to his word, on March 29, Smith wasted taxpayer money by holding a hearing on "Climate Science: Assumptions, Policy Implications, and the Scientific Method". For his sham of a hearing, Smith invited three global warming skeptics to testify. In the interest of "balance", he also invited one proponent of current scientific consensus on climate change. If Smith had invited speakers in actual proportion of scientific viewpoint, he would have had his three skeptics and ninety-seven scientists convinced of the fact of human-caused global warming.

Smith, who has absolutely no scientific training, led-off the proceedings by lecturing the audience on his view of the scientific method, claiming "Much of Climate Science today appears to be based on exaggerations, personal agendas, and questionable predictions, (rather) than on the scientific method." In Smith's world, the only scientifically-valid research agrees with the climate-change denial myths peddled by his corporate donors. (by the way, Smith has received more than $700,000 from the oil and gas industry over his career.)

Dr. Michael Mann, the sole witness defending the overwhelming consensus of scientific thought on global warming, was repeatedly attacked and bullied by all eight of the Republican Congressmen who spoke at the hearing. The three climate change deniers were given softball questions and treated with deference.

The entire Science and Technology Committee is an embarrassing sham. Of the twenty-two Republicans on the 38-member Committee, fully eighteen are declared climate change deniers. The other four committee Republicans have voiced more nuanced stances on the subject. Typical of the GOP members are:

Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), who stated, "Some politicians and bureaucrats believe in whatever theory gives them an opportunity to take money from the energy sector and spend it themselves in the name of saving the planet."

Jim Banks (R-IN), who is quoted saying, "I believe that climate change in this country is largely leftist propaganda to change the way Americans live and create more government obstruction and intrusion in our lives."

Andy Biggs (R-Arizona), who said, " I do not think that humans have a significant impact on climate. The federal government should stop regulating and stomping on our economy and freedoms in the name of a discredited theory.”

Remember, these scientifically-illiterate politicians are the people who make US Science policy and fund government-sponsored research. The House Committee is full of shills for energy companies and fossil-fuel front groups. They are willing to ignore the truth in order to keep those campaign contributions coming in. The Committee is a national embarrassment. 

Global warming is real, human-caused, and is having adverse effects on us, our economy, and our planet. Both the Trump administration and the House Science Committee, as chaired by Rep. Lamar Smith, have declared war on the peer-reviewed research of climate scientists. In the formulation of US policy, fringe views that support a corporate agenda are being allowed to trump real science. That is just one of many reasons to keep Marching for Science.