In partisan political times, recognizing the scientific truth is more important than ever. Scientists must be vocal and clear about reality.
As the latest election cycle in the USA winds down and people across the country and world begin to reckon with the results — and their consequences — you could be forgiven for thinking that science is in a lot of trouble. Confidence in science and scientists has waned in recent years, particularly among those with right-wing-leaning politics, and the political leanings of scientists, fairly evenly split during most of the 20th century, is now being put under the spotlight as a vast majority of practicing scientists themselves have left-wing-leaning personal politics. Many contentious issues today, including:
- the safety and efficacy of vaccines,
- the benefits and risks of fluoridated drinking water,
- the realities of a warming planet,
- plus the societal benefits of a healthy and robust investment in basic, fundamental science,
are going to have policies made about them that will be subject to political whims, rather than with policy driven by the actual scientific merits underlying these issues.
