Letter: Vote Out the Science-Deniers

During the 2016 election campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly asserted that, “Climate change is a hoax invented by the Chinese.”

Contrast this outlandish claim with the consensus conclusion of every relevant scientific organization: climate change is real, has a large man-made contribution and represents a real crisis for our planet. 

Given this difference, I wonder where Trump gets his scientific advice, or perhaps whose interests he is serving by denying the consensus. In an October 13, 2018, 60 Minutes interview, Trump changed his tune only slightly: “I don’t think it’s a hoax… but, I don’t know that it’s manmade.”

In what has become his normal cynical approach to factual information he dislikes, Trump claimed that the earth scientists who are the real experts on this subject disagree with him because they “have a very big political agenda.”  This statement represents an attack on the integrity of the entire scientific community that no citizen should tolerate!

Scientists stake their reputations whenever they publish their research. Why would they risk being wrong, potentially jeopardizing their careers? 

Along with this science-denial, Trump’s administration and his Congressional supporters are doing serious harm to our environment with actions that jeopardize our air and water. Land has been taken from national parks, oceans are being turned over to oil exploration, and pollution controls are eliminated. 

The healthy solution for Central Pennsylvanians is to vote for change, electing Marc Friedenberg and Susan Boser to Congress, and re-electing Senator Bob Casey.

Patty Satalia