Obama & Nye frustrated w/ science deniers

[Valley Oak]

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Video Of The Day: Bill Nye And The President Talking Climate Change And Science (VIDEO)



On Earth Day, President Obama visited the Florida Everglades. Accompanying him was Bill Nye, the Science Guy.

The video was released on Friday, and they discussed climate change (of course) and science in general, including getting more young people, especially young girls and minorities, interested in the hard sciences.

Nye noted that people generally develop their lifelong passions before the age of 10, so that’s when to spur an interest in science.

The President responded that he sees how in the past, with the space program, Thomas Edison and even Benjamin Franklin with a kite, there was a cultural interest in science. Now, however, he feels that the sciences are not a priority in popular culture – although both say that’s changing.

Nye reminded the constitutional scholar that Section One, Paragraph Eight of the Constitution says: “To promote the progress of science and useful arts.” Of course, the President agreed.

Obama also made a not-so-small dig at Congress when he said that government should fund the sciences but also, “when you’re making decisions around important issues, make sure that you take science seriously.”

“When I see members of Congress,” Obama continued, “being part of the climate denier club, and basically stiff-arming what we know are facts, and not rebutting them with other facts, but rebutting them with anecdote or just being dismissive.”

“I’m not a scientist either,” added the President, “but I know a lot of scientists. I have the capacity to understand science. I have the capacity to look at facts and base conclusions on evidence.” President Obama went on to say:

“Part of shifting our political culture, I think is, we have to model for our kids that facts matter. If we know that the Everglades are starting to get salt water in them then we know that that’s going to affect the alligators and the herons and the birds in this place and ultimately going to affect our drinking water and we see the facts, we have to acknowledge those facts.”

Nye responded that as someone born in the U.S. and educated as an engineer in the U.S., he’s a patriot (yes, that word has been taken from us and it’s time to take it back), and that it’s time for the U.S. to lead in climate science.

The President responded with some ways in which the U.S. is leading, but he agreed that more needs to be done. Yet another reason to get Republicans out of government.