JD Vance Gave Us a Glimpse of Science Under a Second Trump Term
The VP debate was last night. It was, in my opinion, for the most part, boring. But that’s precisely the kind of debate that makes me happy. A reprieve from the crazy and weird crap Trump often spews on stage.
In between the yawns, VP candidate JD Vance spouted some concerning information about science and experts. So, this debate was not entirely without its odd moments.
On “Weird Science”
“One of the things that I’ve noticed some of our Democratic friends talking a lot about is a concern about carbon emissions — this idea that carbon emissions drive all the climate change,” Vance said.
“Let’s just say that’s true, just for the sake of argument, so we’re not arguing about weird science. Let’s just say that’s true,” Vance continued.
I felt that this moment for Vance was particularly disheartening. In the wake of Hurricane Helene, which is expected to be one of the deadliest and costliest storms in U.S. history and which was undoubtedly intensified due to global warming, I think science is anything but weird. Millions of people are without power, more than 100 people are dead, and more are missing. Without the science of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its National Weather Service, that death toll would have likely been much higher.
Aside from not acknowledging the role of climate change in intensifying storms and the need to be more prepared for such disastrous natural weather events, it is alarming that we are still arguing about the legitimacy of climate science. As Arielle Samuelson and Emily Atkin of Heated wrote, “Every time you think the world has finally moved beyond debating whether climate change is real or fake, you wake up to find that the day has reset—and a white guy with oil money seeking power pushed the button.”
Tossing Experts Out
Vance not only took jabs at climate science but also scientific experts, particularly economists.
“A lot of those same economists attack Donald Trump’s plans, and they have Ph.Ds, but they don’t have common sense,” said Vance when questioned about Trump’s economic plans.
A hallmark of the Trump administration was to sow public distrust of experts. Unfortunately, that strategy has worked well within the GOP. A recent opinion essay by Thomas B. Edsall in the New York Times shows that “a substantial number of Republican voters are losing faith in science.” Edsall reports on data from a long-standing survey conducted by the Pew Research Group. The data support that there is a widening gap between Democrats and Republicans when it comes to public trust in scientists - a gap that didn’t exist until about four years ago. As Mr. Trump has been the de facto leader of his party since the 2016 election, this decline in trust can be associated with that leadership.
If the public does not trust experts, who does it go to for information? We can assume that Donald Trump hopes the answer to that question would be “Donald Trump.” It was the answer for some people during the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, in those cases, many people paid with their lives for placing their trust in Trump’s disinformation.
Science Under Trump
Vance’s debate performance gave us a glimpse of what science would look like under a second Trump administration - it seems quite similar to what we saw under Trump’s first term. It seems pretty similar to the picture that Project 2025 paints for federal science. So, if you had any hope that a second Trump term might be different for science for the better, let Vance’s words kill that hope.
Under a second Trump term, climate science and scientists will be demonized, and all of the progress on climate change made under the Biden administration will be undone. Federal scientists can expect to be censored, ushered out the door, and their work cut. Scientists and their expertise will also be called into question, likely deepening a partisan divide in the trust of experts.
If the above is our future, then the consequences are dire. God forbid it, but what if another pandemic happens under Trump? More frequent and intense natural disasters? Without science-informed policies and plans in place, and about half of the public disinvested from listening to experts - public health and safety will erode. Among those most impacted will be undeserved communities - communities of color, low-income communities, and Indigenous peoples.
During his debate performance, Vance’s words on science clearly show that a second Trump term would harm science, public health, and safety. One hopes this will be a nail in the coffin for the Trump campaign a month before the election. Yet, polls still suggest a 50/50 toss-up.
Suffice it to say that I am incredibly concerned about the future of science policy.