Since President Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-Oklahoma) to become NASA Administrator, an Internet lynch mob has arisen against him. It sees that the congressman is a “Climate Change Denier.” An article in Think Progress expounds on this meme, using the politically-loaded term “denier” several times.
What is climate change?
A full review on climate change is beyond the scope of this article. The phenomenon also known as global warming is the supposition that the production of CO2 by human activity is causing a steady increase in global temperatures that will cause a catastrophe if left unchecked.
Draconian measures to end the use of fossil fuels will be necessary, regardless of cost, to stop the world from suffering irreparable harm.
Climate change advocates have tended to act in bad faith to support their thesis, using dodgy data and questionable computer modeling to make the Earth appear to be warming when it may not be. The biggest lie of the global warming debate has been that “97 percent” of climate scientists agree that climate change is real and represents a clear and present danger to the planet. In fact, the number is much lower. Unfortunately, the media, and, until recently, the federal government, have combined to intimidate and discredit climate skeptics in the scientific community.
What was done to Judith Curry, a respected climate scientist who was smeared and driven out of academia, is a case in point.
Why does it matter that the NASA administrator is a climate change skeptic?
If Bridenstine’s nomination is confirmed, he will not be the only Climate Change Skeptic in the Trump administration. The current heads of the EPA and the Energy Department are skeptical of the extent of human-caused global warming.
The difference is that NASA retains a certain prestige when it comes to science. Much of the “evidence” in favor of climate change comes from the space agency that has been massaged and altered to fit the theory. If Bridenstine restores some scientific rigor to NASA”s Earth science research, the cause of global warming will take a crippling blow.
It all depends on whether Democratic senators on the Commerce Committee want to make an issue of the climate change issue. Bridenstine brings a lot to the table with a coherent space policy that ties a return to the moon with economic development. One suspects that Bridenstine will soften his stance on global warming a little without conceding the central point. He will promise no “political interference” in Earth science research. That move would not satisfy the most fanatical critics on Twitter, but then, nothing will.
