Loser Secret Science vs Winner Cutting Edge Technology

There is deep suspicion of science and scientists within Donald Trump’s policies and the evangelical supporters in his base constituency. Experts with advanced degrees, years of technological experience, are precisely the kinds of “elites” that need to be “drained” out of their Washington influence, they tell us. Scientific truths, particularly the notion of man-induced climate change embraced by virtually the entire scientific community worldwide (and even by Pope Francis – in his encyclical on climate change) and other major religious leaders, conflict with their very narrow and not-universally-held interpretation of the Bible.

“In its enunciation of a ‘Biblical Perspective of Environmental Stewardship,’ the Cornwall Alliance, an evangelical organization dedicated to combatting climate change activism, declares:

“We deny, due to God’s faithfulness to His covenant, in which He proclaimed, after the Flood, that He would sustain the cycles on which terrestrial life depends for as long as the Earth endures (Genesis 8:22), that God’s curse on the Earth negates either the dominion mandate (Genesis 1:28) or the robustness and self-correcting resilience of the God-sustained Earth.” ReligiousNews.com, January 26, 2015.

Or you can interpret the Bible, as does Pope Francis, that God gave mankind both access to natural resources as well as a responsibility not to waste or squander that gift. So many American evangelicals, not the case with evangelicals in most other nations, believe that God was unconcerned with such notions of wastefulness or irresponsibility.

That businesses wish to be exempt from having to install pollution controls, avoid having to increase fossil fuel efficiency and replace legacy equipment/end-products with machines driven by alternative energy sources, be able to dump toxic effluents, by-products of their antiquated but less expensive manufacturing/extraction processes, into public waterways, landfills and the atmosphere without financial costs or any resulting responsibility, and that mine owners and petroleum/natural gas extractors want government support for increased fossil fuel use… all just happen to play into the hands of those who denigrate scientists as snobby elites and those who have rather dramatically unfounded religious beliefs that God wouldn’t let man’s actions cause an unfixable climate change.

The poster-boy for that irresponsible wastrel mentality is the rather openingly corrupt head of the agency he spent most of his adult life trying to defeat, the Environmental Protection Agency’s head, Scott Pruitt. “The Trump administration launched an attack on the science behind many of the nation’s clean air and clean water rules, announcing a proposal [4/24] that would in effect prevent regulators from considering a wide range of health studies when they look at new regulations.

“The plan by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt would prohibit what he and industry advocates call ‘secret science’ — studies that make use of data that are kept confidential, often for privacy reasons.

“The embattled EPA chief, whose own secrecy on his personal finances and his activities in office has drawn the attention of investigators, framed the action as crucial to government transparency.

“‘The era of secret science at EPA is coming to an end,’ Pruitt said in a statement. ‘The ability to test, authenticate, and reproduce scientific findings is vital for the integrity of the rule-making process. Americans deserve to assess the legitimacy of the science underpinning EPA decisions that may impact their lives.’… Many of the country’s most prominent research organizations, however, say the studies that Pruitt wants to ban are crucial to effectively protecting the environment.

“The proposal threatens to cut off the federal government’s access to essential data and subject science to political manipulation, the research groups say. That is because many health studies involve large amounts of patient data, which can be accessed only under condition of confidentiality.

“Banning such studies would prevent the EPA from considering many health impacts when looking at rules to limit pollution. Identical proposals stalled in Congress after protests from research groups, including the University of California system and the American Assn. for the Advancement of Science.

“Environmentalists said Pruitt’s motive is not to improve scientific integrity, but to stifle regulation…‘This is a blatant attack on science that undermines the EPA’s ability to protect our health and environment,’ said Tiernan Sittenfeld, the chief Washington lobbyist for the League of Conservation Voters. She called the proposal a ‘sham’ that would ‘limit the EPA’s ability to use the best research on the health effects of pollution, which form the basis for vitally important protections.’” Los Angeles Times, April 25^th.

Preferring to cut taxes for the very rich, as the United States continues to defund public education and government-supported scientific and medical research, treating science and scientists as little more than a nuisance to be marginalized if not purged from positions of influence, China has done the reverse. She has elevated education and those same scientists and researchers in what is increasingly an easy path to supplant the United States as the world’s technology leader. Under a new campaign, the People’s Republic is pouring billions of fresh cash into training new scientists and supporting their research, even luring home Chinese nationals with tenured science and engineering faculty posts at prestigious U.S. universities, to embrace artificial intelligence and cutting-edge technologies to become the future leader of hi-tech exports.

“Made in China 2025 is a blueprint for transforming the country from a labor-intensive economy that makes toys and clothes into one that engineers advanced products like robots and electric cars. The Trump administration views it as an attempt to steal U.S. technology and control cutting-edge industries.

“Officials aimed to temper the initiative this month when they announced potential tariffs on $50 billion in goods. But Chinese leaders consider the plan key to the country’s development and refuse to alter its course.

“‘China is trying to achieve a clear goal and America wants to stop it,’ said Andrew Polk, cofounder of Trivium/China, a Beijing research firm. ‘And that’s where the competition is.’

“Here’s what Made in China 2025 is all about and what it means for the trade war:

“What’s the objective?

“The plan funnels billions into 10 industries, including biopharmaceuticals, aerospace and telecom devices. It calls for 70% of related materials and parts to be made domestically within a decade. A separate document details China’s strategy to lead in artificial intelligence by 2030.

“Officials modeled Made in China after a German initiative called Industrie 4.0, which envisions greater automation in manufacturing and ‘intelligent factories’ that operate with wireless sensors. They didn’t have much choice. The world’s biggest population is aging and rising wages are sending low-tech factories to other countries.

“‘The labor supply is decreasing,’ said Ashley Qian Wan, China economist for Bloomberg Economics in Beijing. ‘And that’s going to be a big problem for China.’… [But the PRC plan is well underway.] For example, China developed its first bullet train last year, the Fuxing [pictured above], which can reach a top speed of 248 mph. Engineers have also built the first Chinese jetliner.” Los Angeles Times.

In the end, these Trump administration efforts, already leaving the United States and Syria as the only two Paris climate accord holdouts, place the United States globally at an increasingly severe competitive disadvantage that will only accelerate as time passes. When the GOP loses its iron grip on U.S. policy-making, it will take billions of new dollars and decades of time – assuming we can even generate that kind of needed capital – to get the United States back to its once-unchallenged lead as the engineering/science entrepreneurial capital of the earth – to make America great again.

I’m Peter Dekom, and such catastrophic leadership based on ignorance, isolationism, false nationalism and clearly unworkable slogans just may be the “big undoing” of the entire United States of America.