Research associate Lisa King isolates DNA at the Sangamo BioSciences lab in California – by Getty Images
I was on Countdown with Keith Olbermann last week and came up with the headline phrase, "If You Are Anti-Science, You Are Anti-Jobs."
I think this is an important message to deliver. I would have said it's important message for progressives to deliver, but the fact is it is an important message for everybody not in the extreme anti-science crowd to repeat. Indeed, "moderate" conservative GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman said this weekend that being anti-science is as counterproductive for the nation as it and self-destructive it is for his party:
We raise up our young people we tell them to get a good education and tell them to move forward and solve the great challenges of today, find a cure for cancer, make the world a better place. We then get the results are willing to jettison it and to shun it? I just think that's the wrong direction.
Here is the transcript from the Countdown story, "Joe Romm explains how science will help U.S. compete with India and China":
Keith Olbermann: We are now joined by Joe Romm, editor of Climateprogress.org. Thank you for your time.
Joe Romm: Thank you for having me.
Keith Olbermann: Gov. Perry went on to say at some length that global warming is a myth propagated by scientists who want money for their projects. How do you begin to answer for willful ignorance like that?
Joe Romm: Four pinocchios for this claim. Perry took $11 million in campaign contributions from "Big Oil" over the past 12 years. It's politicians who take money from teams to make up crap. Scientists need to have reproducible conclusions and results and that's how they protect their reputation. Most people who know scientists know they didn't go into it for the money, which is not something you can say about politicians.
Keith Olbermann: Now, once this has turned into a policy point, the republican war against the EPA — how far do they want to roll back environmental protections? Do they think this works as an issue in the election because the they say the EPA is a "job-smothering" device?
Joe Romm: They would like to go far. I think there is no question that, for instance, Bachmann said that she is going to shut the doors and turn out the lights if she is elected. I think they're banking on people not knowing what the EPA does, which is to say, use science to protect our clean air and clean water for our children and ourselves.
I mean, you know, we are talking about laws that reduce asthma attacks, hospital visits, protect people's lives, keep arsenic out of the water so, you know, I think it's just crazy to campaign against clean air and clean water. It is among the most popular issues among the public, and, you know, one of the things… being anti-science is being anti-jobs. Where do people think the jobs — where did the internet come from? It was created by scientists. All of these medical advances, again created by scientists. If you don't teach science f you don't encourage science, you are never going to compete against China and India and, of course, the Soviet Union [said jokingly].
I appreciate the Countdown staff making clear that I was joking about a Bachmann gaffe that Olbermann had pointed out in the video intro to this interview.
Keith Olbermann: Is that how you see the actual impact on 21st century science, America having a president who denied climate change, thought the theory of evolution was or needed to be balanced, right after the inauguration, going about dismantling the EPA?
Joe Romm: It would be catastrophic. Aside from the fact that the nation that leads the world in science and technology will create the most jobs, you know, the EPA is a matter of public health. The bare minimum requirements of the government is to make sure the water we drink is safe and the air we breathe is safe.
Keith Olbermann: Do you have any idea how widespread these fantasies about science are in the tea party or just things they say so they can use them as excuses for battering a president they don't happen to like?
Joe Romm: The tea party has bought this hook, line and sinker, Tim Pawlenty having to say, no, I don't believe in climate science. The tea party is backed by polluters like the Koch brothers. They funded think tanks. To repeat, Fox News is in on this. There is this denier industrial complex.
Keith Olbermann: Thanks, Joe.
In the weeks to come, I'll elaborate on why being antis-cience means being anti-jobs.
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