--- title: Donald Trump's Government and Cabinet of Science Denial description: The President-elect is instituting national policy in which its officials claim to not be "a scientist" yet act like experts canonical: https://time.com/4646085/donald-trump-science-denial/ author: Dave Levitan article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-25T15:15:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:43.265Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Donald Trump's Science Denial Is Becoming National Policy og:description: The new administration claims it's 'not a scientist' yet acts like an expert og:url: https://time.com/4646085/donald-trump-science-denial/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d80cba691425336/6988b7198e0601e6bb468f08/donald-trump11.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception in the Blue Room of the White House in Washington. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump's Science Denial Is Becoming National Policy twitter:description: The new administration claims it's 'not a scientist' yet acts like an expert twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d80cba691425336/6988b7198e0601e6bb468f08/donald-trump11.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump's Science Denial Is Becoming National Policy > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ## Video: A Trump Presidency and the Future of Climate Change [Watch (HLS stream): A Trump Presidency and the Future of Climate Change](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/U3bhooK6.m3u8) (2:27)  _Published 2016-11-15. Donald Trump has repeatedly indicated that environmentalism is not his priority. Now, Climate scientists, policymakers and diplomats are questioning how his presidency will shape the future of climate change policy._ by [Dave Levitan](https://time.com/author/dave-levitan/) ## Dave Levitan Jan 25, 2017 3:15 PM UTC  President Donald Trump speaks during the Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception in the Blue Room of the White House in Washington on Jan. 22, 2017. President Donald Trump speaks during the Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception in the Blue Room of the White House in Washington on Jan. 22, 2017. Joshua Roberts—Reuters by [Dave Levitan](https://time.com/author/dave-levitan/) ## Dave Levitan Jan 25, 2017 3:15 PM UTC In August 2012, the [North Carolina](http://time.com/4605453/north-carolina-pat-mccrory-governor-legislature/) legislature [banned](http://abcnews.go.com/US/north-carolina-bans-latest-science-rising-sea-level/story?id=16913782) the [sea](http://time.com/4257194/sea-level-rise-climate-change-miami/) from [rising](http://time.com/4234290/sea-level-rise-preparation/). At least not as quickly as it was. The state passed a law disallowing policymakers and planners from using the best predictions available for how high the sea levels would reach. This meant that the predominant scientific forecast that the ocean would rise 39 inches within the next 100 years shrunk down to about eight inches, which the state was forced to use in guiding coastal policy. This bit of legislative magic, of course, won’t save your beach house. The N.C. shenanigans were good for a laugh around the parts of the country that take climate change seriously. But fast-forward to just after noon on January 20, 2017, and we are now faced with the fact that wishing away scientific reality has become national policy. Soon after [Donald Trump](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2016-donald-trump/) was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, the official White House website purged all mentions of climate from the site—all mentions but one, that is, if you consider a [promise](https://www.whitehouse.gov/america-first-energy) to eliminate the “harmful and unnecessary” [Climate Action Plan](https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/25/fact-sheet-president-obama-s-climate-action-plan). Soon thereafter, scientists and other employees of the [EPA](http://time.com/4645559/donald-trump-epa-social-media-blackout/) and USDA were told not to speak to the public; a [National Park Service Twitter account](http://time.com/4645927/badlands-national-park-climate-change-tweets/) sent out objective facts, and had them [deleted](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/01/24/for-a-few-hours-badlands-national-parks-was-bad-to-the-bone-in-defiance-of-trump/?utm%5Fterm=.b56b52903546) in short order; and the [EPA](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-epa-climatechange-idUSKBN15906G) was told to take down its climate-change page. This all hewed to Trump’s campaign rhetoric, but it was shocking nonetheless. Seeing the 180-degree shift away from the science of the Obama administration was a stark reminder of the dangerous, ever-rising waters in which we now find ourselves. It isn’t just climate science. Trump may appoint an [anti-vaccine activist](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/robert-kennedy-jr-vaccines-trump-233547) to run a commission on immunization safety, and an [anti-regulation zealot](http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/01/libertarian-FDA-head-thiel-silicon-valley-trump) to run the Food and Drug Administration. Trump himself has [called](http://mashable.com/2015/09/26/trump-biography/#QgGaKEb3Rgqn) the fact that asbestos causes cancer a “con” and even [refused](https://thinkprogress.org/donald-trump-tells-drought-stricken-californians-there-is-no-drought-ef6acf15ed60#.1x3f3r50a) to believe the objective scientific reality of drought in California. The return of these anti-science attitudes to the highest levels of government has been accompanied by a return, somewhat surprisingly, of a familiar, infuriating refrain. “I am not a climate scientist expert,” said [Ryan Zinke](https://www.c-span.org/video/?421718-1/ryan-zinke-says-will-address-sexual-assault-allegations-interior&start=3530), the Montana Congressman tapped to run the Department of the Interior, during his confirmation hearing. “Far for me to be sitting before you today and claiming to be a climate scientist,” added Rick Perry, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Energy. They jumbled the words a bit, but these nominees have apparently decided to revive the “I am not a scientist” GOP dodge, a line that President Obama was thought to have euthanized during his 2015 [State of the Union Address](https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/01/20/remarks-president-state-union-address-january-20-2015). The message behind that talking point was always one of disdain and misdirection. It allows the politician behind it to disavow expertise—but never disavow his intent to act like an expert nonetheless, by passing laws and making decisions as if the facts he doesn’t have are on his side. “I’m not a scientist” has another effect as well, that is perhaps even more chilling. It sets the actual scientists off as an “other,” an indistinct group that isn’t around to join in the discussion and probably shouldn’t be trusted even if they were. That attitude could be seen as a subtle nod to the now decades-long demonization of climate scientists as some sort of shadowy cabal, many thousands strong, coordinating a diabolical hoax by somehow faking data from sources ranging from satellites to tree rings, all so they can continue to receive taxpayer funding in order to keep perpetrating that hoax. (Coherency has never been a strong suit of conspiracy theorists.) **Read More:** [_Donald Trump Owes All His Wealth to the Very Arts and Culture He Aims to Defund._](http://time.com/4644278/karen-finley-donald-trump-nea/) Trump clearly subscribed to such thinking with his conspiracy-mongering on climate, on vaccines, on anything scientists know more about than he (read: everything involving science). And though his new team may be [distancing](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-nominees-share-a-climate-change-line-humans-contribute-but-we-dont-know-how-much/2017/01/19/647c69f2-de9c-11e6-ad42-f3375f271c9c%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.af3b6e9263f5) itself from the “hoax” language in favor of misleading people by hyping uncertainty, the White House website climate purge tells us all we need to know on science’s position in this administration. The scientists have once again been shunned. The kernel of hope here lies with the actual scientists, and some hints that they may be mobilizing in ways not seen before. In the days leading up to Trump’s inauguration, a group of scientists, coders and others [scrambled to collect](https://www.wired.com/2017/01/rogue-scientists-race-save-climate-data-trump/) and save incredible masses of government data on climate and other issues, preemptively protecting it against attacks from the White House. Groups like [314 Action](http://www.314action.org/home) (named after the first three digits of pi) have begun pushing for more people with STEM backgrounds to run for public office, in the hopes of correcting a dire lack of actual expertise in government’s halls. These are promising steps, and reflect the solidarity of spirit that is massing against the new president. But there is, of course, a question of urgency. North Carolina’s lawmakers “solved” their P.R. disaster a few years later by accepting a subsequent [sea-level rise report](http://wunc.org/post/state-outlawed-climate-change-accepts-latest-sea-level-rise-report#stream/0) that projected inches rather than feet—but only because it limited its gaze to a 30-year window. This may grease the political wheels, but when that window closes, the seas will continue to rise—they are building for a future that will not remain. Trump can help push through a truly [damaging agenda](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/11/30/scientists-are-really-really-worried-about-donald-trump/?utm%5Fterm=.95f3ec16d857) by pretending empirical truths do not exist. But sea levels, soaring temperatures and strong storms do not care about pseudo-bans, and they do not care about what is on a website. ## Transcript [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Donald Trump has called climate change a hoax. It'll get cooler, it'll get warmer. It's called weather. Now that he's President- elect, here's what at stake for the future of the environment. Thank you. Paris Agreement which was negotiated last year and came into effect just a few weeks ago was a monumental step for addressing climate change. And setting a path forward for the coming decades to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Donald Trump has promised to cancel the Paris agreement, or at the very least, renegotiate it. Stop all payments of the United States tax dollars to UN Global Warming Programs. He does not have the authority to cancel it. It's an agreement with more than 190 countries. He also doesn't have the power to withdraw from it. Immediately at least, it would take at least three years to go through those processes. He does have the power to ignore it. It's unlikely that other countries will feel comfortable making big reductions in their greenhouse gas emissions, if the United States is not taking the lead. Another policy at stake is Obama's clean power plan. [ APPLAUSE ] Single most important step America has ever taken in the fight against global Climate change. Trump has said that he would cancel it. Environmental Protection, what they do is a disgrace. Every week they come out with new regulations. He has the authority to do that. He could direct the EPA to eliminate the clean power plan. We'll be fine with the environment. We can leave a little bit, but you can't destroy businesses He will definitely if he does face litigation from environmental groups that will argue that it's the EPA's role to do that. It's a long winding process. And certainly not something that he's going to be able to accomplish in his first 100 days. Environmentalists are trying to remain Optimistic and looking at a lot of the market trends that have resulted in the reduction in coal power and other greenhouse gas emissions. A lot of it is outside of the realm of regulation. But also trying to stay optimistic about the Paris agreement. Some of them say even if Donald Trump Withdraws, they are confident that other countries will step up to the plate. I'm 16 years old from Mwanza, Tanzania. Looking forward, there's a lot of things that Trump can do to slow progress on climate change, but many of the trends he doesn't have control over. So there is reason for optimism if you're looking in the long- term. 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