Barring public access to objectively verifiable data gleaned from taxpayer-funded scientific inquiries is perhaps the height of President Trump's Orwellian universe of "alternative facts," and the good people at Popular Science have already shed some light on why these draconian measures are just as dangerous in practice as they are absurd in theory. Their explanation is, to use a technical term, grim as hell:

Government science is what determines which strain of flu should go into each year’s flu vaccine. It’s what helps us avert pandemics and helps farmers maximize yield of the foods that feed us all. The work of Cooperative Extension, which exists to improve the livelihood of farmers, is underpinned by government science. The research has value because of its dissemination to the public. When science isn't released and discussed, we can't make decisions based on it.

The government obviously isn’t the only source of science. But industry-funded science comes with its own inherent biases, and academic research can be constrained by the wants of academia—a push to publish. Publicly-funded research can act as a backstop, providing data that's important for the social welfare but can’t easily be monetized. It’s the third leg that stabilizes the stool, and it doesn't work without public critique and analysis.

This is how a president uninterested in governing according to data or evidence reframes reality: by quietly squeezing objective facts out of the public discourse, while at the same time burying the public under layers of outright propaganda trussed up as "alternative facts." In time, whatever unsupported nonsense Donald Trump and company are pitching starts to appear less odious, not because it has any basis in reality, but because there are simply no counterarguments to be heard anymore.

The best-case scenario for the American public and/or the future of this planet is that the Streisand effect comes back to bite President Trump in the ass. The silliest part of this morning's directives is that EPA employees are forbidden not only from publicly discussing their agency's work, but also from talking about the order that does the forbidding in the first place. It's one thing to undermine civil servants who have dedicated their lives to protecting and preserving the environment, but to prevent them from even acknowledging that they are working under a gag order is an especially cruel form of emasculation. Hopefully, justifiably angry federal employees can find other ways during the Trump administration to make sure that Americans have the access to publicly-funded scientific research that they deserve. (Like us! We'll be here when you're ready, anonymity guaranteed.)

Here's Why Donald Trump Won't Hold Press Conferences: