Wednesday, February 01, 2017

Alternative Science..


I see that Trump is attempting to muzzle scientists who work for central Government; the word has gone out that they (particularly in the EPA) shouldn't issue press releases, post on blogs or tweet etc. without "screening" by the administration. It's not clear what his motives are yet but it's not easy to think of any that could be positive. Are we about to see scientific papers authored like the one above? Are leading American climate scientists (and others) going to be reduced to sneaking around passing notes via drop-boxes and in folded newspapers, like they used to do in the Soviet Union under Stalin? Science works via cooperation and the sharing of ideas and data, I wouldn't expect a ignoramus like Trump to realise this, but, I would have thought his billionaire cronies understand the value to the economy in having a strong science base underpinning it. Let's face it, the World needs the USA to transition from fossil fuels as fast as possible and consequently needs it to lead the world in replacement technologies. I can't understand why good capitalists can't see the upside in getting 100% behind people like Elon Musk and the like, ultimately if they don't then I'm sure the Chinese or the Europeans will be glad to pick up the slack. Won't it be ironic if when the oil runs out that America has to switch it's total dependency on crude from the Middle East to a dependency on battery or hydrogen technology from China.

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