On Nature column: Ignoring climate science could prove disasterous

I had a piece about the joys of gardening written and ready to submit for this column, but I’m finding it difficult to write about everyday subject matter when the administration in power is launching a full-scale attack on nature itself.

At the top of the list is the administration’s view that climate change is not a threat.

In fact, if we humans don’t find the political will to curb greenhouse gases, all the rest of our policy decisions won’t matter much. Green energy initiatives, which were intended to serve as a bridge to a new generation of energy resources, are being undercut to support the fossil fuel industry. Solar and wind were never going to replace all use of traditional forms of electrical energy production, but they could help us while we transition to new ways of generating electricity.

The United States is the world leader in total amount of greenhouse gases produced by internal combustion since the process was developed. It is folly to think we can continue the uncontrolled burning of fossil fuels without hitting a tipping point when runaway warming cannot be stopped.

Many people have been convinced by the conspiracy promoters that climate change is a hoax. How else can we explain record flooding, storm intensification, uncontrolled wildfires across the globe, and massive coral reef die-offs, not to mention drought?

Those who don’t see these events as related to human energy use are simply not grasping reality. Exhibit A: Lake Meade.

The current administration says that switching from fossil fuels will damage our economy. The exact opposite is true. Green energy was beginning to pay off in a big way when the present administration yanked the rug from under its feet.

All the money in the world probably can’t prevent the effects of runaway warming once it starts. Some people would rather believe the alternative facts, because the true cost of doing nothing to reverse the damage we are causing is too ugly to contemplate deeply. It is very convenient to just deny climate science.

The government attack on funding scientific and medical research and the willful destruction of decades of painstakingly collected data is akin to the destruction of the great library of Alexandria, the storehouse of knowledge of a once great civilization. We are deliberately handing U.S. dominance in scientific and medical research to our competitors; other countries are already luring our best and brightest minds to join their programs.

Why are we deliberately sabotaging ourselves? Indiana has invested decades becoming an agri-science and biomedical powerhouse. Too many people in powerful positions in Washington want to turn back the clock.

Ignoring the predictive power of modern science will not end well for us. The book of Proverbs (16:16) reminds us moderns that wisdom is more valuable than gold.

Sheryl Myers taught biology and environmental science for 34 years and has worked as a naturalist for area parks. She is a founding director of Heart of the River Coalition.