Day: July 26, 2024

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Contempt of science

Almost back to medieval times but not quite.

“When the Supreme Court’s Ohio v. EPA decision blocked Environmental Protection Agency limits on Midwestern states polluting their downwind neighbors, a sad but telling coda came in Justice Neil Gorsuch’s opinion. In five instances, it confused nitrogen oxide, a pollutant that contributes to ozone formation, with nitrous oxide, better known as laughing gas.

You can’t make this stuff up. This repeated mistake in the 5-4 decision exemplifies a high court not just indifferent to facts but contemptuous of them.”

[from Scientific American]

The Supreme Court’s Contempt for Facts Is a Betrayal of Justice
The Supreme Court majority’s recent decisions about homelessness, public health and regulatory power, among others, undermine the role of evidence, expertise and honesty in American democracy
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Gun violence information for the 2024 election cycle

Finally finally finally, the issue of gun violence will be front and center in a presidential election campaign. The Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions is a first-rate source of current evidence-based information on how gun violence affects public health, and offers risk-based solutions for how to turn the tide. If you need to quote information in your discussions with others, this is where to go. Also consider taking their free (modest price if you want a certificate) Coursera course, Reducing Gun Violence in America: Evidence for Change.

The Public Health Approach to Prevent Gun Violence
A public health approach to prevent gun violence brings together a range of experts across sectors—including researchers, advocates, legislators, community-based organizations, and others—in a common effort to develop, evaluate, and implement equitable, evidence-based solutions.
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The school voucher scam

When they try to subvert the public school system—and they’re trying real hard—everyone ends up paying a very real price.

[from ProPublica]

School Vouchers Were Supposed to Save Taxpayer Money. Instead They Blew a Massive Hole in Arizona’s Budget.
Arizona, the model for voucher programs across the country, has spent so much money paying private schoolers’ tuition that it’s now facing hundreds of millions in budget cuts to critical state programs and projects.