The Attack on Science is Real

Mere minutes, possibly an hour, after Donald Trump was officially inaugurated as the next president of the United States, the White House's website devoted to climate change was removed.  Removed as if climate change doesn't exist!!!  I'm writing this on Friday, so maybe it's different today, but going to

www.whitehouse.gov/energy/climate-change

takes you to a non-existent page.  Just like that the government of the United States (as of noon on January 20, 2017) says climate change doesn't exist.  They throw all solid science out the window in favor of what?  Religion?  Ideology?  Money?  All three most likely.  The removal of a website itself is not the issue, but the meaning and message that goes along with it is.  This administration will blatantly ignore what is right in front of them.  This denial of science will KILL thousands, millions, possibly billions as the effects are played out over several decades.  Drought, destruction of crops, lack of drinking water, civil wars, disappearing islands, vanishing shore lines, more intense storms, etc.  These things, all a result of climate change caused by humans, will kill people in increasing numbers.

I'll probably be saying this a lot in the coming weeks, but is there hope for a future on this planet?  I've always said yes in the past but I don't know anymore.  I grew up LOVING science!  I loved learning new things and there is so much to learn in science.  But this constant attack on science is demoralizing.  I'll continue to fight, but it is more difficult to see hope for the future of life on this planet as each day goes by and the attack on science increases.  I have no idea what Galileo felt in the early 1600s when the Catholic Church arrested him for daring to share science, but I have to think it felt a bit like this.  At what point are scientists arrested for sharing science in this country?  It seems crazy, but then again, climate change has been wiped clean from the White House.  Arresting scientists for sharing science no longer seems crazy to me.

Update:  I've discussed many times the importance of being a skeptic and must therefore admit I was a bit unfair in my statements above regarding the removing of climate change on the White House website.  Snopes.com declares this a mixture of truth.  Yes, all mention of climate change was removed, but that is common with a new administration.  Obama wiped much of the website clean in 2009 and replaced it with his policies.  It is telling, however, that there are many mentions of 'energy' on the White House site, but they focus on 'clean coal', a technology to separate carbon into the ground without releasing it into the air.  This technology has its own problems and at this point is not a feasible method of carbon dioxide emission reduction.  Therefore I stand by my statements on the attack on science.  We'll see if the White House has a true climate change plan, but all evidence points to further denial.

Snopes.com on Climate Change Removal on White House Webpage