I am very concerned about the waning leadership role of America in shaping future technologies which as we have seen during the Obama administration had a considerable boost in the shift from fossil energy to more of renewable energy.
Many have forgotten that in 2007 when Obama took office gas price was highest at around $5.50 per gallon, and eight years later, same gas price has drastically reduced to some $2.20 and had remained steady for most of the last three years of Obama administration.
Obama's administration was able to achieve this enormous feat because it understood quite effectively the urgent need to invest in alternative source of energy and it paid up handsomely at the gas pump for ordinary Americans. This is something most people are not even aware of and as such the administration is not getting the credit it rightfully deserved for encouraging the use of electric cars as viable mean of transportation.
Now comes this man Donald J Trump who I might say, I actually wanted to extend an open mind to him. As we are now seeing, has committed one of the most sacrilegious offence against science. He did this by tampering with and rolling back by executive orders on some of the most useful regulations his predecessor put in place to combat the negative effect of greenhouse gases on climate change. As a scientist, I can not possibly support anyone that will deny scientific data to the detriment of declining world's/planet earth's health.
I have lived in the USA long enough to remember that Ronald W. Reagan also did the same thing, he got rid of Jimmy Carter research efforts/initiatives in the area Solar Energy. Reagan even went as far dismantled the solar panel that President Carter installed at the White House. In retrospect the impact of what Reagan did, delayed the embrace and common acceptance of alternative energy source by more than thirty years.
Now, I am going, "I have seen this recklessness before", and it took over thirty years before a a President, called Obama restarted the process again and we are now the better for it. Without a doubt Obama has been the greatest friend that science and scientist has ever had, except perhaps John F. Kennedy (the Space Travel).
... This article was first posted on my Facebook page on March 31st. The author is yours indeed, Moi.
