J.D. Vance's Anti-Science Legislative Record
Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump recently announced his pick for Vice President - Ohio Senator J.D. Vance.
Who?
Yea. I didn’t know much about him until recently, either.
But now the investigations are starting and here’s what we know so far.
He is a first-term Senator from Ohio. Trump endorsed Vance for his Senate seat.
Senator Vance didn’t have nice things to say about Trump back in 2016. A few years later, he was one of Trump’s biggest cheerleaders.
He’s most well-known for writing a memoir titled, “The Hillbilly Elegy,” which was adapted into a 2020 Netflix film.
He and his wife are both Yale graduates.
He is from humble beginnings and is 39 years old. He would be the third youngest vice president in history if elected to office.
Vance on climate change
Lisa Friedman of the New York Times wrote a piece about J.D. Vance’s track record on climate change and his support of the fossil fuel industry. As Friedman writes, “Senator J.D. Vance, Republican of Ohio, is a strong supporter of the oil and gas industry, opposes solar power and electric vehicles, and has said climate change is not a threat.”
But Friedman makes notes that these weren’t always his political views.
For example, in 2020, he gave a speech at Ohio State University where he identified climate change as a problem in society. In this speech he praised solar energy.
But in 2022 he seems to have changed his mind on climate change. At the American Leadership Forum, Vance questioned whether climate change was human-caused (which it totally is, and that is supported by decades of scientific evidence). He’s taken the stance that climate change is natural - “It’s been changing, as others pointed out, it’s been changing for millennia,” Mr. Vance said.
Vance also has attacked the work of environmentalists and policies that address climate change. He has referred to the Inflation Reduction Act as “dumb” and has introduced legislation to repeal federal tax credits for electric vehicles. He also has supported other pieces of legislation that would undo regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. He has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from the oil and gas industry, and will likely be accepting much more of their money now, I suspect.
Vance on other science-based issues
SciLight is the first to analyze Vance’s record on science. We primarily relied on his Senate record, bills that he has sponsored or co-sponsored, and whether or not the language of those bills are aligned with scientific consensus on an issue. We also read through the senator’s congressional remarks on record.
According to Congress.gov, Senator Vance has sponsored 57 pieces of legislation and cosponsored 288. Of those 345 pieces of legislation, SciLight has identified 101 that fall in science-based policy areas. The breakdown of legislation sponsored or co-sponsored by Senator Vance by science policy area is below.
The senator has put forward most legislation in the area of health. He has put forward legislation that would support scientific studies, such as S.4045 - East Palestine Health Impact Monitoring Act of 2024. The Act would allow Health and Human Services (HHS) to fund a longitudinal study on the human health effects due to the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. He also cosponsored S.3733 - Shandra Eisenga Human Cell and Tissue Product Safety Act which would “require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a national, evidence-based education campaign to increase public and health care provider awareness regarding the potential risks and benefits of human cell and tissue products transplants…”
While Vance has supported healthcare legislation that I think any person in the U.S. could stand behind, he also has put forward legislation that can only be described as racist, transphobic, xenophobic, and anti-science. For example, and likely most notably, Senator Vance sponsored S.2738 - Freedom to Breathe Act, which prohibits air carriers, public transit, or educational institutions from imposing a mask mandate during COVID-19 outbreaks. In his official floor remarks on this bill he stated:
Now, it is not just that masks—according to randomized control studies—do no good; it is that they could actively cause harm. We know a generation of school children have suffered significant speech and developmental disabilities because this country panicked instead of using its brain and forced toddlers and small children to wear masks. We cannot return to the failed policies of the COVID pandemic.
There are now several scientific studies (see here and here, for example) that have concluded wearing masks and mask mandates significantly reduce transmission of COVID-19. So, it seems that the Senator’s statement that masks “do no good” is just not true. Senator Vance would certainly not be a pro-science VP if this kind of legislation and rhetoric is any indication of his ability to sideline science in decision-making.
Senator Vance also has sponsored or co-sponsored several pieces of legislation that aim to prohibit gender-affirming care. For example, he co-sponsored S.2797 - Protecting Conscience in Our Health Care Act that would allow doctors to refuse patients gender-affirming care “to ensure religious freedom.” He also sponsored S.2357 - Protect Children’s Innocence Act, which would prohibit gender-affirming care for minors. The science is clear on this issue - gender affirming care is safe and effective in both young people and adults, and medically necessary for many patients.
The VP nominee also has proposed legislation that is racist and xenophobic. For example, he sponsored S.2374 - No Obamacare for Illegal Aliens Act, the title of which I believe speaks for itself. Another bill that Senator Vance has sponsored that needs no explanation is S.3454 - No Taxpayer Dollars for Communist China COVID Tests Act. He also sponsored a bill that would “…establish the Office of the Special Inspector General for Unlawful Discrimination in Higher Education within the Department of Education.” This inspector general’s duties would be to ensure that colleges and universities are complying with the Supreme Court’s decision to undo affirmative action in admissions. All of the above pieces of legislation attack DEI and would harm the U.S. scientific enterprise as I’ve written previously.
Senator Vance has sponsored or co-sponsored several other pieces of legislation that would harm U.S. science. They include overturning the Department of Education’s programs to reduce student loan financial hardships, a bill that would allow Congress to weigh-in on the federal government’s decisions to delay or prohibit fossil fuel and mining permits on federal lands, and a bill that would prohibit universities from receiving federal funding if they employ non-citizens.
Senator Vance’s legislative history make clear that he is not a pro-science politician. And if his legislation is any indication, he will particularly target programs and policies that aim to diversify the U.S. scientific enterprise. If elected, he will fan the flames of anti-science decision-making, policies, and rhetoric alongside Trump.
The GOP ticket in 2024 is a nightmare for science.
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