Trump lied, people died

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If President Trump had listened to warnings in January and February, America might not have followed down a similar track as Italy.

Inglis highlighted the similarity of the coronavirus and the climate crisis:

My party took a temporary leave of absence from the data and decided to go with ideology … the problem with that is eventually the facts overtake our flawed ideologies. That’s what’s becoming apparent with climate change and perhaps coronavirus will help us see that.

Trump put his ideology above the facts and as you might have heard, Trump lied, people died.

As for the American people, Front Page Live asked Inglis what they can learn.

“Science can really help us. That’s what I hope we take from the coronavirus times,” Inglis said. Individuals “are giving their lives to [science]. We should celebrate their concern for us and not push them away.”

The Riot Act

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Is it possible to treat the climate crisis with as much gravity as has been given to COVID-19?

Climate science activists have been practically begging the world to follow data to create better policy. Why hasn’t the U.S. listened?

“A single plane crash garners more attention than millions of fatal car accidents,” Inglis said. “It’s one of the reasons climate change is such a devilish problem.”

It’s a problem in which Inglis’s son, Robert Inglis Jr. — a 34-year-old second-year emergency medicine resident at the University of California in San Fransisco — has a unique take on. His son is the person who’d have to decide who gets  intubated.

On March 9, his son, usually a “jovial fellow,” joined his family’s conference line and “read the Riot Act.” He demanded that his father take this seriously and cancel all travel plans.

The problem with listening to science

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The other side to Inglis’s argument that Americans need to trust scientists, is the absurd idea of many conservatives that scientists are just in it for money.

What do you say to counter that argument?

“The money explanation is the polite way of saying, ‘they’re godless,’” Inglis said.

He continued:

The money thing might be code language for ‘they have a different world view than we do.’ It’s something scientists need to be very careful about.

Conservatives see a contest between faith and science. And they see the advocates of science as opponents of their deeply held faith.

From climate denier to climate advocate

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Inglis was a climate science denier for his first six years in Congress.  For him, it took a particular type of scientist to sway his opinion.

That scientist was, who Inglis calls his “Aussie friend,” Scott Heron. Heron speaks at churches and helps people of faith to understand science.

So is the “money” argument of not trusting science rooted deeply in history and communicated today as code for “they’re not our tribe” as Inglis believes?

One can only hope. Because if that’s the case, there is a problem at hand that Americans can solve.

Disclaimer: The distribution of this article was sponsored by a coalition of funders led by Story Networks. In a democracy, every voice matters. For more information please contact info@frontpagelive.com.