Last night, the Democrats regained a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, and with it, leadership of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. What will this change mean for science?
The current committee chair, Lamar Smith, R-Texas, who will retire at the end of this term, has repeatedly denied that humans play a role in climate change. He also challenged climate scientists (such as by asking them to release documents and communications they sent amongst themselves regarding a study about the increased rate of global warming) as well as National Science Foundation (NSF).
Smith "not only ignored the problem [of climate change] but abused his authority as committee chair to launch attacks on climate scientists," said Michael Mann, a distinguished professor of meteorology at Pennsylvania State University and an outspoken advocate of combating human-caused climate change.
Read the LiveScience story by Yasemin Saplakoglu - “The House Science Committee Is Back in Democrat's Control: What That Means for Science.”
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