Rick Perry and the Anti-Science Right

Science is the way in which we seek to understand the universe around us in an objective manner, based upon evidence as opposed to relying on personal opinion or superstition. Republicans have been increasingly promoting ignorance as a virtue, ignoring science whenever it disagrees with their personal opinions or political platform. Rick Perry, who has suddenly become a front-runner from the GOP nomination, displayed his view of science in this comment on global warming:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday told a New Hampshire business crowd that he harbors major doubts about human contributions to global warming, questioning the motives of scientists who have warned about accelerating climate change and arguing against expensive “anti-carbon programs.”

Fielding audience questions after brief remarks that dwelled largely on fiscal and economic issues, Perry encountered one skeptic who said he was quoting from Perry’s 2010 book, Fed Up!: Our Fight to Save America From Washington, then asked whether misgivings about climate science fueled distrust of federal research in general.

“I do believe that the issue of global warming has been politicized,” Perry answered. “I think there are a substantial number of scientists who have manipulated data so that they will have dollars rolling into their projects. I think we’re seeing it almost weekly or even daily, scientists who are coming forward and questioning the original idea that man-made global warming is what is causing the climate to change. Yes, our climates change. They’ve been changing ever since the earth was formed.”

Pegging the global cost of implementing “anti-carbon programs” in the billions or trillions of dollars, Perry said, “I don’t think from my perspective that I want America to be engaged in spending that much money on [what is] still a scientific theory that has not been proven, and from my perspective, is more and more being put into question.”

Perry is also a creationist who also says that evolution is a theory, repeating the common error of the anti-science right of failing to distinguish between the word theory as used in science as opposed to by the general public.

Perry is, of course, wrong, but this is what no-nothing Republican voters want to hear. Saying nonsense such as this undoubtedly does give Perry an advantage over Mitt Romney, who has agreed with the proven facts that human action is affecting the climate.

2 Comments

  1. 1
    RayM says:

    He’s right about one thing, though: global warming has indeed been politicized.  And it is ignoramuses such as Perry and Inhofe who have done that.

  2. 2
    John Sonntag says:

    RT @ronchusid: Rick Perry and the Anti-Science Right #p2 #p21 #topprog http://t.co/saySyDg

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