Post by abbey1227 on Aug 2, 2021 14:17:16 GMT
The New York Times
A Brain Drain Among Government Scientists Bogs Down Biden's Climate Ambitions
Coral Davenport, Lisa Friedman and Christopher Flavelle Mon, August 2, 2021, 6:49 AM
WASHINGTON — Juliette Hart quit her job last summer as an oceanographer for the U.S. Geological Survey, where she used climate models to help coastal communities plan for rising seas. She said she was demoralized after four years of the Trump administration, in which political appointees pressured her to delete or downplay mentions of climate change.
“It’s easy and quick to leave government, not so quick for government to regain the talent,” said Hart, whose job remains vacant.
President Donald Trump’s battle against climate science — his appointees undermined federal studies, fired scientists and drove many experts to quit or retire — continues to reverberate six months into the Biden administration. From the Agriculture Department to the Pentagon to the National Park Service, hundreds of jobs in climate and environmental science across the federal government remain vacant.
Scientists and climate policy experts who quit have not returned. Recruitment is suffering, according to federal employees, as government science jobs are no longer viewed as insulated from politics. And money from Congress to replenish the ranks could be years away.
The result is that President Joe Biden’s ambitious plans to confront climate change are hampered by a brain drain.
A Brain Drain Among Government Scientists Bogs Down Biden's Climate Ambitions
Coral Davenport, Lisa Friedman and Christopher Flavelle Mon, August 2, 2021, 6:49 AM
WASHINGTON — Juliette Hart quit her job last summer as an oceanographer for the U.S. Geological Survey, where she used climate models to help coastal communities plan for rising seas. She said she was demoralized after four years of the Trump administration, in which political appointees pressured her to delete or downplay mentions of climate change.
“It’s easy and quick to leave government, not so quick for government to regain the talent,” said Hart, whose job remains vacant.
President Donald Trump’s battle against climate science — his appointees undermined federal studies, fired scientists and drove many experts to quit or retire — continues to reverberate six months into the Biden administration. From the Agriculture Department to the Pentagon to the National Park Service, hundreds of jobs in climate and environmental science across the federal government remain vacant.
Scientists and climate policy experts who quit have not returned. Recruitment is suffering, according to federal employees, as government science jobs are no longer viewed as insulated from politics. And money from Congress to replenish the ranks could be years away.
The result is that President Joe Biden’s ambitious plans to confront climate change are hampered by a brain drain.
“The attacks on science have a much longer lifetime than just the lifetime of the Trump administration,” said John Holdren, professor of environmental science and policy at Harvard and a top science adviser to President Barack Obama during his two terms.
They've finally found a replacement for Reagan to blame all of their failures on.
![[cheers]](http://storage.proboards.com/7182076/images/engyBVslEdpmpmdnBwZQ.gif)
