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Sunday, May 10th, 2015

This Is What Happens When You Elect Climate Change Deniers

Author:     Kate Sheppard
Source:     The Huffington Post
Publication Date:     05/07/2015 1:59 am EDT
 Link: This Is What Happens When You Elect Climate Change Deniers
Stephan:   I think we have to face the truth, that the ignorance and prejudice of certain areas of the country are simply so great that they are incapable of electing public officials smart enough to deal with climate change. Republican representative Lamar Smith makes my case. He is a moron, yet he is the chairman of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee and in a position to shape America's response to what is coming. He simply isn't up to the task. The people of the 21st districtof Texas, which includes most the wealthy sections of San Antonio and Austin, have been re-electing him since 1987, so they clearly aren't up to the task either.
House Science, Space and Technology Committee Chairman Lama Smith (R-TX) Credit: latimes.com

House Science, Space and Technology Committee Chairman Lama Smith (R-TX)
Credit: latimes.com

WASHINGTON — Scientists are balking at major cuts to NASA’s budget that the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology approved last week, cuts that critics say will imperil climate change research in the U.S.

The committee-approved 2016 and 2017 NASA budgets would cut the agency’s earth science funding by at least $323 million. Climate is a major part of the agency’s earth science work, and NASA plays an important role among government agencies in helping to develop our scientific understanding of how the planet works.

The budget contains two different funding possibilities: “aspirational” and “constrained.” Under both scenarios, the budget would be cut significantly, to figures lower than the $1.947 billion that the Obama administration had requested for fiscal year 2016.

NASA’s earth science program is funded at $1.773 billion in FY2015. The request for FY2016 is $1.947 billion. Under the bill’s aspirational scenario, it would receive $1.450 billion in FY2016. […]

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