I haven’t been able to get all the way through this interview yet, but he sure is full of himself. I found this a little amazing:
Is there anything about Trump’s administration, and here I’m thinking specifically of Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, that leads you to believe the government will support the kind of innovation you’re hoping for?
I’m going to wait to see on Scott Pruitt. I want to engage you on this question, but I think maybe you’re politicizing something that doesn’t need to be politicized. I mean, the EPA was created by Richard Nixon. The EPA and the National Parks were set aside by conservatives. With respect to Scott Pruitt, I wouldn’t be surprised if the bureaucracy just sort shrugs its shoulders at his directives and says “we’re going to be here long after you’re gone. We’re going to carry on doing what we were doing.”
That reminds me of the saying, “The function of an institution is to perpetuate the institution.”
That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about laws.
No, you’re talking about a lawless agency that Pruitt was brought in to rein in and get under control. He seems to be as ignorant of how government works as he is about science and climate.
Rick Perry showed up at the Department of Energy and realized what’s involved, that he’s in over his head, and now he’s going to let the thing run the way it was being run. But in contrast, Mr. Scott Pruitt — it’s not that he’s unqualified, it’s that he thinks the EPA shouldn’t exist.
If he really believes that, he’s profoundly ignorant of Scott Pruitt. It’s frightening that so many young people pay so much attention to this ignoramus.
Say what you like about cartoons but Ms Frizzle, of the Magic School Bus, never embarrasses herself in this sort of display
Neither did Dr. Julius Sumner Miller.
His comment about what the EPA would _like_ to do is probably exactly on the mark. It’s Pruitt’s job, and Pres. Trump’s job, to stop them.
But I doubt Rick Perry is going to do what he said. He was a pretty effective tough guy in his state. More likely he wants to get his bearings.
As a Texan, I’ve watched the media and the rest of his political opponents try to portray him as a dumbbell for years. He isn’t, and his current national-level opponents are going to find this out.
I meant to refer to Rick Perry.
I was amazed, by the way, by Nye’s interview on Tucker Carlson. Carlson didn’t know it, but Nye was speaking throughout _against_ the standard consensus on climate change. Many things he said went way beyond the IPCC, and no one should get away with that.
Steven Bannon wants to destroy the government, so he and the current administration has sought people, like Betsy DeVos, like Rick Perry, who are singularly unqualified to hold their current cabinet positions.
Hooo-kay Bill. Checking in again with Bad Astronomy, Mr. Phil has taken a few weeks off of Bad Weather™ (understandable, those fantastic graphics of melting earths must take a lot of time to get just right) but he has updated his bio:
was the head science writer of Bill Nye Saves the World,
Bill Nye and Phil Plait (Bill & Phil), singularly saving the world. Good times, good times.
Being accused by Bill Nye, of being singularly unqualified for one’s job, is truly a unique experience, I’m sure.
You mean inventing “Speed Walker” isn’t a scientific qualification?
Bill Nye and an intrepid team of comedians save the world in the name of science and sick burns.
It is a herd mentality. As long as one is moving with the herd, one is safe, and can say anything that pops into one’s little head with absolute assurance that he/she will be protected by the herd.