From: garrison.hilliard@gmail.com   
      
   bY ERIC BOWDEN   
      
   Last night, I took a break from the news to watch an episode of "Star   
   Trek," and it turned out to be the most relevant commentary on science   
   and President-elect Donald Trump I've seen so far.   
      
   Early Wednesday morning, Bob Walker, a senior Trump campaign adviser,   
   told The Guardian that his administration was "poised to eliminate all   
   climate change research conducted by NASA as part of a crackdown [on   
   what Walker called] 'politicized science.'"   
      
   donald trump   
   President-elect Donald Trump. Screenshot via YouTube   
      
   This is the clearest policy stance on climate science that we've seen   
   so far from the Trump administration.   
      
   As far as Trump the individual goes, his stated opinions on   
   human-induced climate change have wavered. In 2012, he denied it,   
   saying instead that climate change was a hoax perpetrated by the   
   Chinese to cripple US manufacturing. On Tuesday, however, he   
   acknowledged that it could be real, telling a room full of New York   
   Times reporters yesterday that he believed there was "some   
   connectivity" between humans and climate change.   
      
   Of course, his policy speaks louder than his personal opinion.   
      
   And if this morning's statement is any indication of what climate   
   change policy will look like under President-elect Trump, we should be   
   worried. Essentially, Trump is proposing to halt future NASA research   
   on climate change. NASA currently does a ton of work in this field —   
   just take a look at climate.nasa.gov. That would mean that NASA   
   researchers would be significantly limited from working on the climate   
   models that show how and why our actions are contributing to a warmer   
   planet.   
      
   On a more positive note, Gavin Schmidt, a climate scientist and   
   director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, which studies   
   the changing atmosphere, previously told my colleague Rafi Letzter   
   that he maintained that it won't be simple for Trump to purge federal   
   agencies of climate researchers during his presidency.   
      
   "Chopping off science just to prevent people from talking about   
   climate change won't work," Schmidt said. "You need science for   
   hazards, for weather forecasting, and climate comes along for the   
   ride."   
      
   I hope he's right. Still, I'm terrified by the prospect that climate   
   change research would be limited in any way. So last night, I turned   
   away from the news and towards science fiction television for solace.   
      
   Mistake.   
      
   I re-watched a classic episode of Star Trek's "The Next Generation,"   
   an episode I saw for the first time when I was just a kid. I'd seen it   
   with my father, a self-proclaimed Trekkie and a man from whom I   
   continue to draw endless inspiration.   
      
   Turns out the episode was one of the most powerful critique of Trump's   
   proposal — which is essentially a ban on future NASA-led climate   
   change research — that I've yet come across.   
      
   "Force of Nature" (Season 7, Episode 9, available on Netflix), takes   
   place aboard the main ship, the Enterprise, and focuses on its   
   reliance on warp drive, a faster-than-light spacecraft propulsion   
   system that they use skip around the galaxy. Basically, if warp drive   
   allows the Enterprise to ferry themselves around in a Ferrari, without   
   it, they'd be reduced to something like crawling around on all fours.   
      
   The warp drive is to the Enterprise what fossil fuels are to us   
   Unfortunately, unbeknownst to the crew, every time they engage their   
   warp drive, they're slowly contributing to the creation of a   
   phenomenon they call "a rift," which is causing terrible damage to   
   multiple solar systems. Essentially, the rift is like a massive tear —   
   every time someone uses warp drive, they wreak havoc on the solar   
   system nearby. The rift does everything from shifting the planets'   
   tilt to triggering massive earthquakes, both of which are small now   
   but will destroy the planets as the rift grows.   
      
      
   In the episode, the crew is using warp drive for a rescue mission —   
   they're traveling to an area of space where a friendly ship has been   
   stalled. On the way to the ship, the Enterprise is rendered powerless   
   by an unrecognized ship and boarded by a pair of strangers.   
      
   When they come aboard, the strangers — a brother and sister from   
   another planet — tell the Enterprise that they must immediately stop   
   using warp drive. "You are killing us!" proclaims the sister.   
      
   'Maybe I was a little threatened, the thought that warp engines might   
   be doing some kind of damage'   
   The crew of the Enterprise, while initially outraged that they've been   
   shut down by an unrecognized vessel and boarded without permission,   
   eventually agrees to look into the pair's claims.   
      
   The Enterprise's Captain Jean-Luc Picard essentially tells them their   
   claims are reasonable and promises to ask the powers in charge (the   
   Federation Council) to conduct "more research" on their behalf in   
   exchange for the stranger's agreement to let the Enterprise go. One of   
   the strangers — the sister — responds angrily and says it isn't good   
   enough. She leaves aboard her ship and sends herself into warp drive   
   to prove her point. In the process, she destroys her ship and kills   
   herself.   
      
   They all soon see that she and her brother were right. Some of the   
   crew members who earlier dismissed her claims say they feel   
   responsible.   
      
      
   "Maybe I was taking the whole thing personally. Maybe I was a little   
   threatened, the thought that warp engines might be doing some kind of   
   damage," Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge says.   
      
   Finally, the Enterprise sends their report concluding that warp drive   
   is harmful to the Federation Council. The agency responds by   
   announcing strict policies limiting the use of warp drive except for   
   specific situations when it is necessary. At the end of the episode,   
   Captain Picard acknowledges he feels partially responsible for using   
   warp drive even though he wasn't aware of the damage it was doing.   
      
      
   "I've charted new worlds, I've met dozens of new species. I believed   
   that these were all valuable ends in themselves," says Picard. "And   
   now it seems that all this while I was helping to damage the thing   
   that I hold most dear."   
      
   This is an editorial. The opinions and conclusions expressed above are   
   those of the author.   
      
      
   http://www.businessinsider.com/best-trump-climate-change-policy-   
   ritique-star-trek-2016-11   
      
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