Gary Johnson - Lack of Science Understanding

In the U.S. we are currently in the thick of the presidential election season.  It's the start of October and elections are on Tuesday, November 8.  As a result, the news is filled with the daily movement of the two major party candidates:  Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.  There are, however, two other candidates on most state ballots:  Gary Johnson and Jill Stein.  Gary Johnson said something the other day that further stresses how important it is to have quality science education in the K-12 school system.

Climate change is a HUGE issue that MUST be dealt with ASAP if we are to stop further warming and further climate change damage to this planet.  Unfortunately we won't hear much from the candidates on climate change.  Donald Trump has called climate change a Chinese hoax.  Hillary Clinton has firm policies to address climate change, but this is rarely discussed in the media nor is it brought up much in debates.  Gary Johnson's stance on climate change?  This quote from 2011 pretty much sums up his feelings.

"In billions of years the sun is going to actually grow and encompass the Earth, right? So global warming is in our future."

Since then he has repeatedly pushed against any legislative action to address climate change.  This quote is a prime example of lack of basic science understanding.  Yes, in billions of years the Sun will grow and encompass the Earth.  However, we are seeing drastic climate changes in just the last two decades and those changes are accelerating!  Who cares what happens to the Sun billions of years from now if our children (and us) are facing drastic climate problems today?  This isn't a problem for several generations down the road to worry about.  Climate change right now is causing mass extinctions across the globe.  It's causing more disastrous weather systems.  It's causing a shrinking of coastlines.  It's causing billions and trillions of dollars of damage to cities, states, and countries.  And it's only going to get worse if we do nothing.  

Gary Johnson attracts millennials who are fed up with politics and those looking for someone who is against wars, against government involvement, and for marijuana legalization.  However, if you have any hope for this planet's survival and if you strongly support science and science research, please, please, please, do not cast a vote for Gary Johnson (same applies to Trump).  Jill Stein has better views on science but is still anti-science in many crucial ways.  The only electable pro-science candidate on this year's presidential ballot is Hillary Clinton.