PHOTO OF U.S. DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE JOE BIDEN. EDITED BY WE REP STEM.
For the first time in its 175-year history, Scientific American (SA) is endorsing a presidential candidate. The popular science magazine made the announcement Tuesday, in a show of support for U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
“This year we are compelled to do so,” the publication says in a statement.
“We do not take this lightly.”
SA cited Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis — which has killed nearly 200,000 Americans to date — and his skepticism of climate change, as some of their motivating factors.
“He has also attacked environmental protections, medical care, and the researchers and public science agencies that help this country prepare for its greatest challenges,” SA writes.
“That is why we urge you to vote for Joe Biden, who is offering fact-based plans to protect our health, our economy, and the environment. These and other proposals he has put forth can set the country back on course for a safer, more prosperous and more equitable future.”
The announcement comes one day after a clip surfaced online of Trump speaking with Wade Crowfoot, California’s secretary for natural resources, at a roundtable discussion on California’s deadly wildfire season.
In the clip, Crowfoot discusses recent record-breaking temperatures in Death Valley and pleads the case for better vegetation management.
Trump responds that it “will get cooler.”
When Crowfoot replies, “I wish science agreed with you,” Trump concludes the breathtaking exchange by saying: “I don’t think science knows, actually.”
Much of SA’s editorial focuses on Trump’s “rejection of evidence,” particularly around COVID-19, as well as his tendency to lie and his refusal to take responsibility for the current public health crisis.
It praises Biden’s plans to control COVID-19, lower carbon emissions, and to use science to guide future legislation and policy. The editorial also references his plans to spend $2 trillion to establish an emissions-free power sector by 2035 and to further invest in energy-efficient infrastructure.
“Historically disadvantaged communities in the U.S. will receive 40 percent of these energy and infrastructure benefits,” SA adds.
“Although Trump and his allies have tried to create obstacles that prevent people from casting ballots safely in November, either by mail or in person, it is crucial that we surmount them and vote,” the editorial concludes.
“It’s time to move Trump out and elect Biden, who has a record of following the data and being guided by science.”
