• People

Coney Barrett’s Climate Controversy

• Amy Coney Barrett
• climate change
• controversy
• science

President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, created a bit of controversy during her nomination hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week when she called climate change itself “controversial.” 

Why This Matters:  Judge Barrett many questions with the same refrain — she refused to discuss her “policy” views on questions as obvious as do “poll watchers” who are armed intimidate voters, whether birth control should be decriminalized, or if same-sex marriage should be allowed.

• Politics

What science and democracy have in common: us, hopefully

• COVID-19
• democracy
• science

This piece was originally featured in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and has been reprinted with permission.  by Adam Sobel Donald Trump has said, several times in the week up to and including September 29’s presidential debate, that he will not commit to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose the election in […]

• Politics

Why Won’t He Just Listen to Science?

• coronavirus
• COVID-19
• science
• science literacy
• Trump

In the span of a week, President Trump along with 34 others connected to the White House tested positive for coronavirus while increasing cases across the nation have Dr. Fauci “worried.” Trump’s mishandling of the pandemic has caused his approval rating to hit a record low. And all this has happened as California’s wildfires officially […]

• Animals

Climate Change and Arctic Drilling Threaten Polar Bears’ Extinction

• Arctic
• climate change
• drilling
• endangered species
• oil and gas
• polar bears
• science

The Trump Administration finally released the results of a long-awaited study on the cumulative impacts of oil and gas development in the Arctic on the endangered polar bear population and, not surprisingly, it was bad news for the bears. 

Why This Matters: The head of an agency should review a major work product before it is released to the public.  But delaying the release of a scientific report for months because it does not square with the administration’s policy viewpoint is another matter altogether.

• Animals
• Ocean

500,000 Sharks May Die to Create COVID Vaccine

• conservation
• COVID-19
• endangered
• science
• shark
• shark fins
• squalene
• vaccine

Shark populations may be in danger as countries race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. Conservationists fear that the demand for a cheap and accessible source of squalene, a common vaccine ingredient produced by shark livers, could lead to the killing of 500,000 sharks.

Why This Matters: Sharks are under attack across the globe. Overfishing and habitat loss have left 143 different shark species considered “endangered,” “critically endangered,” “near threatened,” or “vulnerable.”

• Energy

Solar Innovations Offer New Inroads to Renewable Energy

• Department of Energy
• electric road
• electric vehicles
• hydropower
• renewable energy
• science
• solar panels
• solar power
• sustainable

A new study by the Department of Energy provides an interesting new concept for blending solar and hydropower.  The study found that by placing solar panels on reservoirs and feeding the solar power generated into the same substation, both the hydropower and solar power generated could be more inexpensive, more efficient, and more reliable.

Why This Matters:  It may be obvious, but we will need innovations like these to make the transformations needed to have a sustainable and feasible renewable power system.