Dan Hamilton made some erroneous statements in last week’s Op-Ed: “When Politics Ignores Science.”
It is discouraging how Hamilton makes a claim of policy look like a claim of fact. He writes that scientific bills are being blocked, and that those who oppose research funding for alternative energy are “undermining not only truth, but progress.”
Congress has no business legislating scientific truth. Regardless of how congress votes, the sun will rise tomorrow, water will still be made of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen, and I will still be a homosapien sharing a common ancestor with a chimp. Truth isn’t the issue; it’s policy.
Congress is interested in spending our tax dollars. These same dollars are taken from us by force (because, really, if the FBI wouldn’t break into our house for income tax evasion, we wouldn’t pay it), and given to whomever our representatives decide. I hope it is never the next best technology.
Let the market decide what we want. There is nothing stopping us from donating to green research. If new technology naturally saves money for people; people will naturally place their dollars into the hands of these manufacturers. If the technology is so great – the business will need no tax incentive, no punishment money from coal and oil in the cap ‘n’ trade scam, or any other subsidy whose effectiveness would be extremely difficult to track. If we want to truly ‘save’ something, our wallets are the most direct way to show us we can. I oppose Hamilton’s view that the money forcefully taken from me should be used for technology that can ‘only’ succeed from my tax dollar.
As Carl Sagan wrote, “Our species needs, and deserves, a citizenry with minds wide awake and a basic understanding of how the world works.”
Sincerely,
Andrew Finnerty
Senior, Business