U.S. researchers dream of life after Trump
WASHINGTON, D.C. — From his lab in Toulouse, France, Benjamin Sanderson models the range of extreme risks to humans from climate change, research he hopes can inform policymakers planning for worsening wildfires and floods. It is the kind of work he once performed in the United States — and hopes to again soon.
Sanderson is among dozens of U.S.-based climate scientists who shifted their research to France, or sought refuge in academia or in left-leaning states like California after Republican Donald Trump was elected in 2016. They worried his administration’s distrust of science would impact their ability to finance and advance their work.
Now, with the presidential election looming — and Democrat Joe Biden ahead in the polls and promising to prioritize the role of science in policymaking — some of these researchers hope for a return to the days when the United States was viewed as the best place on earth to do their jobs.
Climate science in Europe is not treated as a “political topic,” Sanderson said, adding that he would consider returning to the United States under an administration that valued scientific input.
In the United States, the role of scientific research in public policy is clearly on the ballot in the Nov. 3 presidential election. Some Republicans have sought to undermine the research showing human-caused climate change since long before Trump was elected in 2016, but the sidelining of science-based recommendations in policy decisions has only accelerated since.
Against the advice of researchers, Trump announced plans in 2017 to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, an international accord to fight global warming. He argued the pact would devastate the economy without providing much environmental benefit. His administration has since rolled back more than 100 environmental protections it deemed burdensome to industry, including those seeking to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Trump has also appointed industry insiders or climate change doubters to key roles overseeing environmental regulation and cut scientific advisory committees at federal agencies.
The politicization of science has come into sharper focus this year amid the coronavirus pandemic, as Trump has ridiculed and ignored many research findings and recommendations from the administration’s top infectious disease expert, Anthony Fauci, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The administration has made a habit of “ignoring, sidelining and censoring” scientific researchers, according to an August statement by the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit that advocates for scientific approaches to social and environmental problems.
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy spokeswoman Jordan Hunter did not comment on the departure of scientists under Trump or on the administration’s handling of research on climate change and the pandemic. She said the administration was “committed to ensuring the next great scientific breakthroughs happen in America,” such as artificial intelligence and space exploration.
Biden, by contrast, has promised to fight climate change and to use scientific research and advice to tackle the pandemic. His transition team is already seeking input from informal advisors on how to rebuild and expand U.S. research, the Biden campaign said.