Late last week, CBS reported that the Office of Science, Technology and Policy (OSTP) lost the last of its science division employees. These folks work to provide the president with vital information on a range of issues where policy meets science: medical epidemics like Ebola, biotechnology issues like stem cell research, and even broader issues like science education.
Of course, the White House later denied the CBS report in an attempt to do some damage control. Given that CBS’s source was an anonymous official, and that the White House has told the public to ignore anonymous sources, we’re… skeptical.
A possibly empty OSTP office doesn’t mean that the administration is flying totally blind, though. Sadly, such simple ignorance would actually be preferable to the current situation. As they let OSTP wither (even with staff remaining in other divisions, the levels are roughly a third of the amount employed under the Obama administration according to the anonymous administration official referenced above) the administration is instead relying on input from the industries they’re supposed to be regulating. Coral Davenport at the New York Times shows that’s the case at the EPA, as Scott Pruitt is regularly meeting with industry voices and ignoring EPA staffers when making decisions to roll back regulations.
And it’s only going to get worse (which, yes, is the refrain of the Trump era) as two more positions appear to be going to rather unsavory candidates. At Mother Jones, Rebecca Leber takes a look at the leading contender for the EPA’s number 2 spot, Jeffrey Holmstead. Because he’s not committed to taking on the endangerment finding, the far (Koch) right isn’t thrilled with his possible nomination. But Holmstead did lobby against Obama’s climate regulations and argue against the fact that mercury pollution causes health problems. Clearly, he’s just the sort of person Trump would install at the EPA.
Then there’s the Council on Environmental Quality, another advisory group to the president. E&E’s Robin Bravender reports that Kathleen Hartnett White is still the leading prospect for running that group. Harnett White’s nomination has been rumored for months now, so there’s some speculation that the delay in nominating her is a sign that she won’t be chosen, even though one anonymous source tells Bravender the nomination is a “done deal.” Like Pruitt and Holmstead, Hartnett White comes with a long history of defending the fossil fuel industry from science-based regulations.
But at least we’re not alone in having a national government devoid of scientists. The last climate scientist has just resigned from Australia’s Climate Change Authority, a body established in 2012 to provide the Australian government with advice on climate science and to review policies meant to address warming. These resignations come as protest to the tide of anti-science changes in government similar to those currently playing out in the US. (Maybe they’ll go to France?)
Seriously though, we can take solace in knowing the American public isn’t as ignorant as our leadership. The latest polling shows that 58% of Americans believe humans are mostly responsible for climate change, exceeding pre-Climategate levels.
And one last piece of desperately positive spin to our dire situation: without scientific backing, advancing a policy will be difficult for Trump and Pruitt and the rest of the swamp. As we saw on Monday, courts recognize that policy must be based on science. Without science advisors, the administration will hopefully have trouble winning court battles over scientific issues.
Their ignorance, then, will be our bliss.
Top Climate and Clean Energy Stories: