Trump Appoints Climate Change Denier to Head NASA
Many will refuse to act until it is too late (Credit: Matt Brown) CC BY 2.0You have to appreciate Covfefe thinking outside of the box, especially in light of the trouble he has finding anyone willing to work for “crazy.” When faced with the task of nominating the head of NASA, past presidents looked to astronauts, engineers, and actual rocket scientists to lead the agency. Really smart people. Tremendous people. The very, very best people.
im Bridenstine (R-OK), climate change denier, has been nominated as NASA chief. (Credit: U.S. Government Printing Office) CC0 1.0
Ever the maverick, Feckless Trump has opted to throw tradition and common sense out the window by naming an actual climate change denier and politician, Oklahoma congressman Jim Bridenstine, to head the most prestigious space program in the world. He looks like a nerd, so he’s got that going for him, and his degrees in economics, psychology, and business will go a long way to getting us to the stars and fulfilling NASA’s mission. Right?
The aeronautical and space activities of the United States shall be conducted so as to contribute materially to one or more of the following objectives: The expansion of human knowledge of phenomena in the atmosphere and space. . . . The establishment of long-range studies of the potential benefits to be gained from, the opportunities for, and the problems involved in the utilization of aeronautical and space activities for peaceful and scientific purposes. . . . The preservation of the role of the United States as a leader in aeronautical and space science and technology and in the application thereof to the conduct of peaceful activities within and outside the atmosphere. . . . The making available to agencies directly concerned with national defenses of discoveries that have military value or significance, and the furnishing by such agencies, to the civilian agency established to direct and control nonmilitary aeronautical and space activities, of information as to discoveries which have value or significance to that agency.
Let’s review the congressman’s greatest hits. In 2013, Bridenstine called for then President Barack Obama to apologize for funding research into climate science.
Bridenstine also favors returning to the Moon rather than support Obama’s proposal to put us on Mars by 2030. But hey, he supported Trump early on, so that has to say something for him.
The Senate must approve the appointment, and already there is bipartisan criticism of the nomination, and rightfully so.
