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The New York Times and HuffPost and many others report on EPA abruptly blocking three agency scientists from giving talks on climate change - specifically in the context of a Rhode Island event, with the subject of discussing a report on current conditions in Narragansett Bay and future threats that include climate change.
The New York Times (the origin)
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency has canceled the speaking appearance of three agency scientists who were scheduled to discuss climate change at a conference on Monday in Rhode Island, according to the agency and several people involved.
John Konkus, an E.P.A. spokesman and a former Trump campaign operative in Florida, confirmed that agency scientists would not speak at the State of the Narragansett Bay and Watershed program in Providence. He provided no further explanation.
Scientists involved in the program said that much of the discussion at the event centers on climate change. Many said they were surprised by the E.P.A.'s last-minute cancellation, particularly since the agency helps to fund the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, which is hosting the conference. The scientists who have been barred from speaking contributed substantial material to a 400-page report to be issued on Monday.
...
Monday's conference is designed to draw attention to the health of Narragansett Bay, the largest estuary in New England and a key to the region's tourism and fishing industries. Rhode Island's entire congressional delegation, all Democrats, will attend a morning news conference. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, an outspoken critic of Mr. Pruitt, will be among the speakers.Scientists there will unveil the report on the state of the bay, which E.P.A. scientists helped research and write. Among the findings will be that climate change is affecting air and water temperatures, precipitation, sea level and fish in and around the estuary.
The HuffPost article provides some context:
The researchers were booked to appear Monday in Providence at the State of the Narragansett Bay and Watershed workshop, an event highlighting the health of New England's largest estuary, where temperatures have risen 3 degrees Fahrenheit and water has risen up to seven inches over the past century.
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The move comes days after the EPA scrubbed dozens of links from its website to materials that helped local governments deal with the effects of climate change. Administrator Scott Pruitt has said he does not believe greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels cause climate change, and has scrapped or proposed eliminating numerous regulations to reduce emissions. Two weeks ago, he proposed repealing the Clean Power Plan, the federal government's primary policy for slashing utilities' output of planet-warming gases.
...
The sudden cancellations on Sunday inflame concerns that the agency is muzzling scientists to further the White House's political interests.
I have a hunch Rhode Island isn't included in Trump's list of American places to be "made great again".
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 26 2017, @04:00PM (11 children)
The above post was made in error. Such blatant anti-science propaganda should not appear here. It is already settled that the climate is changing, even the die hards of a few years ago have switched to "but we can't say if humanity has caused it, it could be a natural cycle!" On the face of it your post appears to be a claim to rationality, but I suspect it is simply more of the same burying-head-in-sand behavior. You may have a president that supports your shaky beliefs, but the rest of the world is laughing at us so don't get too smug.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 26 2017, @04:16PM (10 children)
We're making America great again.
The rest of the world is welcome to laugh, nervously or otherwise. They are welcome to be pissed, whatever... their opinions don't matter. We truly don't care. Engaging in a worldwide popularity contest would be a distraction from making America great again.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Snow on Thursday October 26 2017, @04:24PM (8 children)
Oh, the world is laughing. It's a nervous laugh.
What exactly does making America great again look like? The USA is rapidly losing influence on the world stage. The USA is no longer being looked to as a moral leader. This is creating a power vacuum. Who will fill that void?
The world is looking at America, and it's not getting great.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Grishnakh on Thursday October 26 2017, @04:39PM (3 children)
The USA is no longer being looked to as a moral leader. This is creating a power vacuum. Who will fill that void?
China and Russia. The EU has been trying, but they're too disorganized and incompetent, so they're failing. (It doesn't help that Spain is reverting to Francoism, and the EU is all too happy to voice support for authoritarianism.) China is definitely looking like it'll be the next superpower and world leader in 50 years or less.
Great times ahead....
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Thursday October 26 2017, @05:15PM (1 child)
China wants to be, but they'll have to do it with raw, physical dominance because they won't do it by winning hearts and minds. African nations that were briefly relieved to invite Chinese interests in because they're sick and tired of America and Europe have already come to realize that the Chinese have no interest in their well-being at all either. ASEAN, too, which initially welcomed China to its gatherings, has grown quite wary thanks to Beijing's moves in the South China Sea. Vietnam (!) has offered to re-lease Cam Ranh Bay to the US. Japan, thanks to Kim Jong Un's antics and China's refusal to rein him in, just gave conservatives the majority they need to revise Japan's pacifist constitution to respond to the threat.
At China's landward elbow India is jostling below, Russia above. Neither of those countries is China's friend and will not come to its aid in a conflict. China in fact has no defensive pacts with anybody but North Korea, really. Russia would be stupid to enter into one with China because Beijing would wind up absorbing Moscow, and I suspect Putin knows that.
So clockwise from north to west, it's surrounded by hostiles. From west to north are rivals, if not hostiles.
War with them would be a doozy though, no doubt about it. Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea would probably prevail against China, but they'd all be so badly bloodied that India or Russia would probably be able to walk in and take over afterward if they managed to stay out of the fray. Maybe Mercosur would assert itself more in the western hemisphere. Who knows? But it would be a very different world from this one.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Grishnakh on Thursday October 26 2017, @06:37PM
China wants to be, but they'll have to do it with raw, physical dominance because they won't do it by winning hearts and minds.
Yeah, but no one else is going to "win hearts and minds" either these days. The US gave that up, and there aren't any other big players out there that can offer that. Obviously China can't, but neither can Russia. It does seem like some regional blocs are trying to vie for more power on the global stage (ASEAN, Mercosur, EU), but all of them are too hobbled by huge internal issues to be really effective. Mercosur can't even keep its members straight, as it keeps suspending them, Paraguay's mad that Argentina is there, etc. And the EU has Spain looking like Francoism is returning.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 26 2017, @06:04PM
China now seems to be intent on going where Soviet Union went. I guess we'll see in a decade if the warning signs are for real... but I won't put any of my money on them long-term.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 26 2017, @06:01PM (2 children)
The USA isn't losing influence due to any actions it has taken recently. Actions taken decades ago have helped China to rise, and that of course makes the USA lose influence. Blame Nixon.
Has the USA ever been looked to as a moral leader? Perhaps, seven decades ago, from the perspective of Europe only. The rest of the world sees us via our decadent movies and TV, glamorizing all sorts of things prohibited by cultures all around the world.
There was, perhaps, a slight power vacuum when Obama was being all agreeable and trying to purchase friends. Europe and China enjoyed taking advantage of us then.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday October 26 2017, @06:39PM (1 child)
The rest of the world sees us via our decadent movies and TV, glamorizing all sorts of things prohibited by cultures all around the world.
Interesting how these people all clamor to watch Hollywood movies, so much so that Hollywood gets more money from foreign sales than they do domestically. Chinese in particular love American movies, and they love American cars (esp. Buicks--why, I cannot fathom).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 26 2017, @07:30PM
Marketing most likely for the Buick fandom. Movies get a ton of money from product placement, John Wick and Transformers are the two blatantly obvious car commercial movies.
Humans want tech, humans want life improvements. It takes some serious education to teach humans about limits and environmental considerations. No we shouldn't all have private vehicles, we should have a communal vehicle pool along with drastically improved public transit. Of course actual people are jealous of the US where you can easily purchase all manner of helpful crap, but they lack the wisdom we've developed where that crap is an anchor around your neck. Avocado slicer? Are you kidding me? Spend the extra ten seconds and use a knife and spoon.
The world wants the open culture we've developed in the US, people are tired of being oppressed by religious institutions and other backward thinking bullshit. Let them be warned however, it comes at the cost of cultural nihilism and a massive exploration of the more extreme edge cultures.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 26 2017, @06:07PM
Based on the rising seas and the location of my soon-to-be beach-front property, I'd say America will look great again in about 1º celsius.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 26 2017, @04:51PM
Being a troll helps no one at all either.