By Joseph Gioconda
There is a growing chasm between conservatives and liberals on matters of great public importance. Nowhere is that disagreement more evident than on matters of childhood vaccinations and global warming. But Republican presidential candidates voicing distrust of the mainstream scientific community is a dangerous political proposition. As more evidence is uncovered that backs up prevailing scientific theories, Republicans appear scientifically illiterate. For example, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) is a graduate of Duke Medical School, a former eye surgeon and ophthalmologist. In a recent interview, Paul said he has heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines, though he was sure to note that he wasn’t arguing vaccines are a bad idea. Similarly, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, another potential Republican candidate, recently voiced his concerns about vaccinations and autism.
But the Centers for Disease Control has studied the alleged relationship between common vaccines like the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and autism and found no links whatsoever. These results have been replicated by multiple separate reports. There is simply no statistically significant evidence accepted by the modern scientific community that demonstrates any known link between vaccines and autism. Of course, politicians questioning the wisdom of vaccines has a real world cost. Hundreds of cases of measles and mumps are appearing nationwide, as parents decline to vaccinate their children. Nonetheless, popular distrust of the CDC is still evident, and now the Republican candidates are openly questioning whether the government should mandate vaccines over parents objections.
The mainstream media will have a field day, making them look like uneducated fools. Similarly, on Nov. 2, 2014, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which represents mainstream scientific opinion, said that it was extremely likely that climate change is the product of human activity. Extremely likely in IPCC speak means having a probability of over 95 percent. The claim forms part of its fifth assessment on the state of the global climate. In its first assessment, in 1990, the IPCC declared that the observed increase [in air temperatures] could be largely due to natural variability. In the last 25 years, climate scientists became so much more certain climate change is man-made that it has become heresy within the scientific community to pronounce otherwise. Yet conservative contrary views persist.
Man-made climate change is a myth and all efforts to prove its existence have failed, according to Weather Channel founder John Coleman. The award-winning weatherman, whose career spans over 60 years, drew on the support of over 9,000 Ph.D. scientists to claim that the science [purportedly proving man made global warming] is not valid. When presented with the scientific evidence, according to a recent Pew Research Center poll, 35 percent of Americans say there is not enough solid evidence to suggest mankind is warming the earth while another 18 percent say the world has warmed due to natural patterns and not human activity. That’s a slight 53 percent majority against the mainstream position of scientists, which also happens to be the position of the Obama administration.
Pew says that business conservatives and steadfast conservatives have the largest majorities that don’t believe in man-made global warming, with 75 percent and 71 percent, respectively. The reason for this popular distrust of science also arises from within the demographics of the scientific community itself: Most scientists identify as Democrats (55 percent), while 32 percent identify as independents and just 6 percent say they are Republicans. When the leanings of independents are considered, fully 81 percent identify as Democrats or lean to the Democratic Party, compared with 12 percent who either identify as Republicans or lean toward the GOP.
Consequently, Hillary Clinton, presumptive 2016 Democratic nominee, tweeted: “The science is clear: The earth is round, the sky is blue, and #vaccineswork. Lets protect all our kids. #GrandmothersKnowBest. “ By opposing this viewpoint, Republican candidates risk appearing like the 16th century Roman Catholic Cardinals who excommunicated Galileo for pronouncing that the earth revolved around the sun. By doing so, they effectively risk ceding the safer ground to Democrats, who may confidently ride the tide of mainstream science toward another presidential victory in 2016.
Joseph Gioconda
Bayside
===================================
