An Important Note on the Environment, Science, Education, and the 2016 USA Election
We have work to do. This election could mean disaster for our country and the entire world, in terms of climate change and the environment, as well as scientific literacy. And this needs to be treated with the same importance as any social justice issue.
Why are scientific research and environmental protectionism important?
We all have heard that the environment is important. But why? Well, there are a few reasons.
One such reason is that, as one of the most influential organisms in Earth’s history with a sense of introspection and ethics, we have a responsibility to the world around to to not destroy it. Sadly, we already are. According to (Ceballos et al., 2015), we are currently experiencing rates of vertebrate extinction up to 100 times more than expected background rates.
(Figure 1, from Ceballos et al., 2015. Rates of extinction in vertebrate groups compared to normal background extinction rates. (A) Highly conservative estimate (B) Conservative estimate.)
Note in Fig. 1 that even between the conservative and very conservative estimates, the rate of extinction of most groups are doubled. If we hope to preserve species and keep ecosystems in place, we must act now.
“So what,” you say. “Who cares if some dumb animals and plants die? I’ve never seen them and never would, so why should I care if they go extinct?” Well, if ego/anthropocentrism is your thing, I have you covered. We are quickly approaching the climate point of no return. At a 2°C change in climate, humanity is at a critical point. Sea levels begin to change to such a degree that many cities will become submerged in water. Hurricanes will become more intense. In fact, 2015 had the second most intense hurricane in recorded human history, the category 5 Patricia. It was on the upper end of possible hurricane intensity on earth, and huge hurricanes are becoming more likely. Global warming is changing the game, in terms of natural disasters. And the people most likely to be affected are those without the money to adjust and change their lifestyle in response to it.
This ties in with the absolute need for scientific research. It is imperative that we continue to promote science in all forms, especially in the face of a looming threat such as global climate change. We would have no idea of the climate change threat without science, nor would we understand a wealth of other issues without it. It is vital to the continued wellbeing of humanity as a whole to promote science and support scientists.
Why are scientific research and environmental protectionism now in danger?
So first, we gotta do a rundown of how the United States government is supposed to work, especially with regards to lawmaking and funding decisions.
There are three branches to the government: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial branches. These branches each have different powers available to them in order to create laws that govern on a federal (nationwide) level. The executive branch consists of the president and their cabinet (heads of various national departments that report to the president). The legislative branch, also called congress, consists of the House of Representatives (who represents each state based on population: each representative accounts for about 700,000 people [Walberg stat]) and the Senate (which represent each state based on being a state: there are two senators for every state in the union). The judicial branch on the national level is made up of the Supreme Court (nine judges, who are chosen by the President and voted on by the Senate when there’s a vacancy in the court either by death or retirement), with federal courts and judges within areas of the United States that trickle down and handle more local legal issues.
Essentially, the ways in which the branches interact with each other are supposed to check and balance each other, in order to make sure that one part of the branch doesn’t completely dominate the dialogue of politics in the United States. The legislative branch is what births bill proposals for the President to sign off on, the President’s cabinet informs the President on how well-guided (or flawed) the bill may be, and the judicial branch determines whether the bill is constitutional or not through either direct checks as bills pass into law, or through people breaking law and arguing that a law is unconstitutional. In a relatively perfect world, these balances would be enough to keep the government in check from totally controlling the citizens of the nation. However, this isn’t always the case, and is definitely reason for concern with this election.
Currently, the majority parties in the House of Representatives and the Senate are Republican. [House stats Senate stats] This means that in House-wide votes (where bills either pass or fail their first vote), the majority is going to be biased towards whatever the Republicans vote for. This follows through with bills that make it to the Senate. And, with the Supreme Court judges currently in a bipartisan equilibrium that will likely be tilted by whoever Trump picks to be the new justice, Republican party values will be at the forefront of what will be upheld in the lawmaking system.
Now, while it’s nice and optimistic to believe that, regardless of party majority, there will be non-partisanship in practice, it’s not usually what has happened in the past 40 or so years. Political polarization has been steadily increasing both in and out of congress, and an analysis done by Pew Research in 2014 has shown that 2014’s congress was the most polarized it had been. And while not all that the Republicans do is purely evil, the fact that issues like climate change and education are not among their major concerns (link to the Speaker for the House’s site for the current Republican platform) and that they push current climate change science to the side as scare tactics (link to the Republican platform on agriculture, energy, and the environment) does not bode well for Congress actually passing legislation that will help our current climate situation. And given that the Senate cut NASA out of the NSF budget earlier this year, we’re going to be facing a world of potential hurt with what many are calling an anti-science president.
On top of this, Trump has repeatedly said that he wants to make huge cuts to the Department of Education and, if possible, eliminate the department all together. Although it is safe to say that hardly anyone knows what his education policy is actually made of, the potential for Betsy DeVos to be head of the Department of Education is frightening, considering that her version of “fixing education” involves promoting private schooling that doesn’t have to follow national convention and can teach both historical and scientific inaccuracy without any real repercussions.
In essence, the political climate we have created is fueled by and promotes an anti-science sentiment, in funding, action, and education.
First things first: Donate to charity, or volunteer for charities. I’ve seen a lot of charity posts going around to try and keep civil rights and social justice causes going even during the Republican takeover. This is great - but we need to keep the environment and science in mind too. Some great charities to donate too include
Environmental Defense Fund: https://www.edf.org/ This charity got a 94.48 rating (out of a hundred) on Charitynavigator.org. It was extremely accountable, spending 79.1% of its donations on the programs and services it delivers, and 10% of the rest was used to grow the program. It spends most of its time working to help the climate and to fund renewable resources, with other major sources of funding being ocean preservation and land ecosystem preservation. It wants to try and make global carbon emissions fall by 2020, and wants to promote food security that will help feed the world in a sustainable manner.
National Center for Science Education: https://ncse.com/ This one didn’t get as high of a score but still a ridiculously high one: 88.51. It spent most of its money on the programs it supports (74.2%) and a good chunk of the rest on administrative expenses. Most of its programs are in public information, teaching people about evolution, climate change, and other scientific concepts. They also support science teacher and pairs scientists with teachers to collaborate within the classroom itself. They also do outreach to students and promote scientific communication.
Union of Concerned Scientists: http://www.ucsusa.org/ This got an 88.49 on Charitynavigator. It spends most of its money on program expenses, like the others (78.4%) with the second biggest group being administrative expenses. Most of its programs are focused on climate and energy sustainability programs much like the Environmental Defense Fund, with other major programs being engaging scientists with the public to increase scientific literacy in the voting process (which is something we desperately need, I’d say). They also work hard on cleaner vehicles.
Southern Environmental Law Center: https://www.southernenvironment.org This got 100.00 on Charitynavigator due to their financial accountability and transparency. They work specifically for the Southeast and its environmental concerns but it still does a lot of great work. They’re fighting against hydraulic fracking projects in southern states as well as oil pipelines which are set to disturb much of the environment, and these states are likely to discourage against use of cleaner energy sources.
Environmental Law and Policy Center: http://elpc.org/ Another high scorer with a 98.41 on CharityNavigator. It works in the Midwest (as opposed to the South), turning the region into a center for solutions especially about climate change and pollution. One of its biggest goals is working on clean energy, which leads to both job creation as well as elimination of major pollution sources. Most of its projects involve making transportation in general cleaner.
Environmental and Energy Study Institute: http://www.eesi.org/ This one received a 94.24 on CharityNavigator. Once again, most of its work is in energy and climate change programs, as well as green buildings and sustainable biomass programs. It’s also focused on developing the economy along with better environmental practices, and to emphasize the true cost of utilizing fossil fuels as energy resources.
E. O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation: https://eowilsonfoundation.org This is a smaller charity (less than 1million USD in revenue) so it doesn’t have a rating, but it still does extensive work. Specifically, it works hard in biodiversity research and education on biodiversity in order to promote its preservation and formation. This connects both environmentalism and an understanding of evolution, two of the areas in which our country is lacking thanks to scientific illiteracy. They aim to track the majority of the Earth’s biodiversity and populations and look deeper into target areas of conservation.
World Wildlife Fund: http://www.worldwildlife.org/ I have some issues with this charity, especially in its focus on “cute” or “charismatic” animals rather than things such as keystone species (which will have more of an impact when they go extinct due to their focal point within an ecosystem). However, these are dark times, and anyone working towards this goal must be acknowledged. They do have a fairly decent score on CharityNavigator, an 86.04, and they spend most of their funds (74.2%) on their programs, with most of the rest going towards fundraising. It works on a lot of projects involved in preserving the climate, sustainable food, preserving forests, providing fresh water, protecting the oceans, and supporting scientific research.
Carnegie Institution for Science: https://carnegiescience.edu/ This charity got a good score on CharityNavigator, 95.34. Most of its funds were used on its programs, 84.8% thereof, with much of the rest used on administrative expenses. Carnegie focuses on funding research in botany, developmental biology, earth sciences, planetary sciences, astronomy, and ecology, answering questions about how our universe and planet formed. Its grants help to kickstart research and promote the gathering of new knowledge in these fields, which then further helps to understand our environment and how to preserve it. A major source of funding that is necessary to aid, now that other sources of funding may dry up.
Jurassic Foundation: http://jurassicfoundation.org/ This charity isn’t rated on CharityNavigator becuase it is primarily privately funded, however I am in direct contact with the organizers of the charity and they’re hoping to significantly grow (and will take public donations). The Jurassic Foundation works to fund research in Mesozoic-age Dinosaurs (so no Cenozoic birds) but the research actually extends beyond that. Many questions that they seek to answer about dinosaurs often require modern animal analogues, and these questions haven’t been asked about them either - much of this research has lead to, say, research on the limb position of mammals, or sensory organs of crocodilians. In addition, the extensive work in the anatomy of extinct animals does translate to modern ones, including humans. Furthermore, the increased understanding of how life has adapted to climate change in the past will aid in understanding how life will adapt to current climate change. In addition, this is a global charity - much of the scientific grants go to economically developing nations. So, it’s a smaller charity, but still an important one.
Second off - Citizen Science! You can help participate in scientific research and expand the ability of research projects to cover more ground and gather more data. Seriously. It is not hard to do scientific research - especially a lot of the naturalistic work that will be majorly impacted by the decrease in funding, but is exceptionally necessary in the face of climate change. There are plenty of projects to help with and investigate listed here: http://www.citizensciencealliance.org/ And in addition, you can suggest your own scientific projects which require help. A particularly good avenue is iNaturalist, http://www.inaturalist.org/, which helps to collect observations about the natural world between non-scientists who are just observing and scientists who require the data.
Third off - CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES. I’m serious. You have to phone them, you have to call them, and you have to tell them why scientific research and environmental preservation is important - nay - why it should be a top priority for legislation. They won’t respond to tweets, they won’t respond to emails, they probably won’t respond to letters. You have to call. We all have to call, as much as humanly possible. You can find information about how to contact your local representative by looking into your state government websites. There is a lot of work to do on this front.
Fourth off - Don’t leave out the environment from your activism. Mention it in tumblr posts. Talk about it on facebook. Emphasize its importance and effects on all of us - and worse effects on those who are without monetary privilege - while you protest and attend town hall meetings. Become involved in the political process and look up the environmental policies of the people you’re voting for, and be sure to make your voice heard. The point of activism is to give a voice to the voiceless; no one in our society is more voiceless than our planet.
Fifth Off - Make your life as green as possible. I know, this is what people shout at you all the time - and to be honest, most of the environmental problems are caused by wide-scale governmental policy and lack of conservationist practices in big businesses. But that doesn’t mean you can avoid doing your part. Have as energy efficient of a car as possible. Try to buy used cars, and have as few of them as possible (if you can stick to public transit and/or walking and bicycling, do it.) Switch to Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs instead of Incandescent Bulbs. Take shorter showers, and use less water while doing most of your day to day activities. If you have a lawn, don’t fucking water it. I don’t care about your neighbors. Try to switch your grass, if you’re financially able, to plant life native to your region. Buy local produce (GMOs aren’t actually bad for you. I could expound on that but just trust me, you don’t need to buy organic. Buy local). Get a water bottle with a filter and use it for your water; don’t buy plastic water bottles. Recycle everything you can, and compost if possible. Don’t use styrofoam, it’s difficult to recycle and it can’t really be made into new materials. Use a microwave instead of the stove whenever possible, given the oven generates more CO2. Get recycled tissue paper (rather than fresh paper). Choose the lowest setting on your washing machine. Use as little electricity as you can - unplug your TV and electronics when you’re not using them. Use less heat this winter - bundle up instead. I can go on, and on, and on.
Sixth Off - Do not be silent. Promote scientific literacy wherever you can. Don’t shout at people for ignorance or not understanding how science works. Talk to the people in your family who don’t understand it. Have discussions. Remember: science is a process, not an ideology. It is simply coming up with an idea, and then testing that idea - and then continuing to test it. If data comes up which disproves the hypothesis, you throw it out or modify it. If you never find such data, then you keep developing your hypothesis. A theory is a hypothesis with so much data behind it that it is highly unlikely to be disproven. Human-made climate change is a theory. Evolution is a theory. Gravity is a theory. The fact that vaccines don’t cause autism is a theory. These are all well supported, well substantiated ideas. They are not things you get to pick and chose to believe in. They just are, and whether or not you chose to accept them as truth depends on your ability to deal with reality. Emphasize this. Emphasize this until the cows come home. Young Earth Creationism isn’t valid because it isn’t what happened. You simply don’t get to believe in it, because it isn’t true. Same goes for denying climate change. We have to change our language and rhetoric. It isn’t a belief - it’s knowledge in the truth.
We have work to do. We have to teach people that science isn’t the enemy. That it’s rigorous. That it isn’t being funded by some sort of business or industry - that it just exists on its own. It simply tells what it knows, and we have to be the ones to deal with that knowledge. A better way to test our understanding of the world and sort our understanding of the world is necessary. Ignorance is not a virtue.
We have to stop ignorance in all its forms. This includes science.
~ Meig, @bruh-i-nevre-seen-a-cooler-dino, and @verybadpaleontologyjokes
Please reblog this to spread it around. Thank you.
