Leading candidates to advise Trump on science question climate change research

Two reportedly leading candidates to advise U.S. President Donald Trump on science laid out their policy priorities and questioned the credibility of human-induced climate change in interviews with The Scientist . Calling the growth of climate change research a “cult movement,” Princeton University physicist William Happer spoke out against the government “pushing technical information that they’re not absolutely certain about.” Another leading candidate, Yale University computer scientist David Gelernter (above), echoed that uncertainty in a separate interview, saying: “I think some [scientists] haven’t fully grasped what a gigantic proposition it is for measly human activity … to change something like the climate of a planet in the Solar System.” Gelernter said that if appointed, he would prioritize computers and networking, physics, and neuroscience.