Thursday, January 24, 2019

Scientific Research Threatened by Trump Shutdown


We've looked at the growing impacts of the Trump shutdown, from a real crisis at America's airports to compromised food safety, not to mention the immediate impacts on 800,000 unpaid Federal employees, their families and their communities. There's also the impact on science research:
"The [National Science Foundation] NSF hasn’t divvied out a single dollar in grant money since the shutdown began Dec. 22. During the same time period a year ago, the federal agency awarded more than 400 research grants valued at $127.3 million, according to a running tally by Benjamin Corb, public affairs director of The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

'The impact on science is a slow strangling of the American scientific enterprise,' Corb wrote in an email."  [snip]
The NSF is among several government agencies that fund research grants. And derailing the flow of grant money is just one of many ways that the shutdown has stymied scientific research around the country. Thousands of scientists remained furloughed across agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the US Geological Survey." (our emphasis)
Of course, the corrupt regime of demagogue and Kremlin asset Donald "Rump" Trump has its own priorities:
"Meanwhile, the administration has managed to forge ahead with fossil fuel development in its relentless push for so-called 'energy dominance.' The Interior Department is continuing to process oil and gas drilling applications and permits and recently amended the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s shutdown contingency plan to bring back dozens of furloughed employees to continue work on offshore drilling activities."  (our emphasis)
We noted in the post below that the voices of millions of Americans need to be heard today as the Senate votes on a House bill to reopen the government without giving in to Rump's hostage-taking. Make the calls.

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