Letter from the editors: What does a second Trump presidency mean for the fate of science?

“I don’t think science knows, actually.”

This was Donald Trump’s response on Sept. 14, 2020 when California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot urged him, as then-President of the United States, to recognize the role of climate change in wildfires that were ravaging the American West.

A defining characteristic of Donald Trump’s first term in office was the politicization of factual information. From denying the reality of climate change to downplaying the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, Donald Trump repeatedly challenged the credibility of science, often with dangerous consequences. Now, more than four years later – as the Mountain Fire burns across our neighboring Ventura County – Donald Trump has been reelected to the highest office in the land….

…What we do know is that – now, perhaps more than ever – we must be vocal about any efforts to stifle the truth. Many have already taken up this critical task. In the wake of the 2016 election, researchers at the Columbia University Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Law and the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund created the “Silencing Science Tracker.” The tracker details attempts on behalf of federal, state and local governments to suppress scientific research and spread scientific misinformation. According to the tracker, instances can be categorized into the following: government censorship, self-censorship by scientists potentially for political reasons, budget cuts, personnel changes (removal of experts from or implementation of unqualified individuals in scientific positions), research hindrance, bias and misrepresentation and interference with education.