Conservative interest groups strike again against climate change awareness. This time, it was to help withdraw a bill to create an honorary Science Laureate position.
The House bill, HR 1891, would have created up to three unpaid laureate positions. These positions would be the scientific equivalent of the US Poet Laureate – to honor an accomplished scientist and to raise awareness on and encourage science education, particularly for girls and minorities. It originally had bipartisan support and was even co-sponsored by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), which is unusual given the current political climate.
However, House Republicans pulled the bill off the voting schedule last week and sent it for revision. Media reports indicate that the Republicans were influenced by a letter sent by the American Conservative Union, a conservative lobbying group. The letter complains that, among other procedural issues, the bill “will provide the opportunity for President Obama to make the appointment of someone (or more than one person) who share his view that science should serve political ends on such issues such as climate change and regulation of greenhouse gases.”
The withdrawal of the Science Laureate bill is yet another example of how conservative groups refuse to acknowledge reality, particularly with climate change. True, there are a significant number of conservatives who don’t buy global warming deniers’ claims. However, these lobbyist groups have heavily influenced the Congressional Republicans’ votes; as The Guardian notes, House Republicans have “voted 53 times to block action on climate or energy saving measures such as the phasing out of incandescent bulbs.”
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
