Tuesday, October 21, 2014

You don't have to be a scientist to have a lot to say about Science


 

These Republicans Prove You Don't Have To Be A Scientist To Have A Lot To Say About Science

WASHINGTON –- There was a time when many Republican candidates would say that climate change wasn't real, or at least, wasn't being caused by human activity. But in 2014, many have instead started to dodge questions about their positions on climate change by pleading ignorance: "I'm not a scientist…
Huffington Post

These Republicans Prove You Don't Have To Be A Scientist To Have A Lot To Say About Science

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Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) may have been the first politician to use the
WASHINGTON –- There was a time when many Republican candidates would say that climate change wasn't real, or at least, wasn't being caused by human activity. But in 2014, many have instead started to dodge questions about their positions on climate change by pleading ignorance: "I'm not a scientist … "
This increasingly common response is not limited to questions about climate change. Indeed, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) seems to have originated this trend in response to a question about the age of planet Earth in an 2012 interview with GQ. “I’m not a scientist, man," Rubio said. "I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that’s a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States."
Other Republican politicians have used the bromidic refrain to talk about the HPV vaccine and nuclear waste storage. It's not limited to members of Congress, either: Governors, too, have deployed the non-response.
Watch our video mash-up of politicians who are not scientists, above.

Also on HuffPost:

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"I have flown twice over Mount St. Helens out on our West Coast. I'm not a scientist and I don't know the figures, but I have a suspicion that that one little mountain has probably released more sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere of the world than has been released in the last ten years of automobile driving or things of that kind that people are so concerned about."

- President Ronald Reagan, 1980

Not quite. Cars emit about 81,000 tons of sulfur dioxide per day, while Mount St. Helens emitted only about 2,000 tons.
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These Republicans Prove You Don't Have To Be A Scientist To Have A Lot To Say About Science

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