A poll released Wednesday by Yale and George Mason universities shows that almost three out of every four Americans believe global climate change played a role in this year’s unusual winter weather. Of course, the vast majority of scientists have been telling us that climate change will lead to extreme weather patterns for more than a decade. Yet it’s taken a long time for Americans to accept this fact. And Americans lag behind regarding acceptance of other scientific truths, such as the theory of evolution. Why do some scientific theories, which garner near-unanimous support in the global scientific community, take so long to be accepted by the American public? The problem, as usual in this country, comes down to politics.
America has a long history of politicizing science. Take the Scopes Monkey Trial for example. In 1925, a Tennessee teacher was arrested for teaching the theory of evolution. The trial was one of the events of the decade, shoving the science of evolution into the political arena. The battle hasn’t stopped since: In the eight-and-a-half decades since the Scopes trial, a wide variety of school districts have passed laws determining how much we can teach our children about science. Tennessee recently passed a bill allowing teachers to “question accepted theories” on subjects such as evolution and climate change.
The politicization of science hasn’t just occurred in America’s schools. The Bush administration appointed only those who agreed with the conservative party line to scientific positions, including agencies such as the EPA. The problem is that science doesn’t have party lines. Theories are tested, debated and always subject to change as scientists try to reach a consensus on the ways the universe works.
America takes a more a la carte approach to its science — “Two scoops of Newtonian physics, hold the Hawking.” Unfortunately for America, science doesn’t work that way. There is no “liberal science” and “conservative science.” One can’t simply accept the facts that are politically convenient, or feel right. This is an especially popular option for the anti-intellectual wing of the American right, which has spent years trying to create its own personal science, even going so far as to accuse the world’s scientists of being part of a global conspiracy to push theories such as climate change. Is it any wonder that our schoolchildren, growing up in a climate that disregards science in favor of politics, lag behind the rest of the world in scientific knowledge and achievement?
Only a tiny minority of scientists refuses to accept theories such as evolution, which are accepted by nearly all scientists in the world. In fact, a movement called “Project Steve” has shown that more scientists accept evolution and are named Steve than scientists of any name who do not.
It’s tempting to ignore anti-science Americans, but there’s a cost. Three-quarters of Americans may accept global climate change now, but we may be past the point of no return.
It’s time for Americans to stop politicizing science. It’s time to stop demonizing scientists and perpetuating an anti-intellectual climate in America, and encourage our children to become the scientists that will help to keep this country moving forward.
Max Bartlett can be reached at [email protected]