When I was growing up, the cardinal rule in my house was to fess-up. My parents had a rule (and a ruler, in the good ole days when that was allowed). No matter what you did (and I really stretched the bounds of that) if you told the truth, came clean, the punishment would be far less than if you lied or hid the truth. I’ll bet some of you had that same upbringing.
Later, I was trained as a lawyer so they taught you that not telling the truth or not volunteering facts is an “omission” and an omission is the same as a lie. An omission is a fact that you don’t reveal, or worse, hide.
So why now is it acceptable by so many to lie and hide the truth? In the past few decades our politicians seem to have forgotten their upbringing (or maybe they were unjustly denied one). It’s resulted in whole new industries: Fact checkers (Snopes, 1994 and FactCheck.org, 2003).
The advent of social media and the partisan nature of network news have certainly led to more and more people “inventing facts” and the rise of conspiracy theories (theories being far from facts).
Merriam-Websters defined the word “fact” as: “Something that actually exists; information presented as true and accurate.” Websters also defines “science” as: A knowledge or system covering general truths or the operation of general laws obtained and tested through the scientific method.”
According to a poll conducted by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center last week, only 90% of those identifying as Democrats have confidence in science. That percentage drops to less than 65% of Republicans. The percentages were far higher before Covid, when politicians politicized science and conspiracy theories abounded.
America has always relished education and science. We need to get back on track or we will be left behind. It is counterproductive to the economy and future of America to hide facts. In the last year $1.0 billion has been cut from science research. Hundreds of scientists have been fired and the Congressionally mandated National Climate Assessment has been eliminated and worse, the government website that made available prior assessments from the past decades has been eliminated. These assessments guide groundwater and surface water planning decisions, weather and natural disaster assistance and prevention programs, and information critical to the agricultural sector.
Hiding science and facts doesn’t make them go away.
So, let’s put forth some facts (and these are empirical facts):
· The last 11 years were the hottest 11 years in our planet’s record keeping history (about 180 years).
· Heat is energy. Remember, electric generating stations heat water (through nuclear, coal, geothermal, natural gas, etc) to generate steam to turn turbines that generate electricity.
· An increase in heat results in an increase in energy.
· An increase in atmospheric heat results in greater atmospheric energy resulting in more intensive storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, and droughts.
· Between 1880 and 1980, the world surface temperatures were generally flat or below the historical medium of record keeping (1880-2025). After 1980, world surface temperatures have risen exponentially each year:
· The world population in 1880 was 1.5 billion. By 1980 it was 4.4 billion. Today it is 8.3 billion. More people demand electricity, water, food, and a better life…and everyone generates methane producing garbage and waste.
· Last year, renewables (solar and wind) surpassed coal as a source of electrical generation.
All facts. All alarming. Is this sustainable? How do we address the challenges? Serious problems cannot be solved by conspiracy theories, wishful thinking, complacency, and hiding them. Our only hope as a species is education, personal choices, and science to tackle and solve the problems.
So, back to my mother and the ruler. Don’t hide inconvenient facts and science. No omissions. The punishment (results) will be far worse than admitting them and dealing with them as best we can.