Whenever we hear the phrase, “the truth will set you free,” we inwardly nod in agreement, for our lived experience confirms the reality of this philosophical axiom. Children learn that lying about their transgression will earn them more punishment than admitting their error. Knowing the full and honest diagnosis of a medical condition is far more comforting than being told it’s all in your head. People seek clarity and understanding in their lives for good reason; it allows us to make better decisions, improve our situations, and ease our minds. This applies to supporting the science behind our rapidly changing climate.
Throughout the centuries, science has proven to be the most profound tool to help us correctly understand our complex world. The scientific method, where we use observation to collect evidence and evaluate it dispassionately, has freed us from fear, confusion, and manipulation by the powerful. The dedicated scientists who identified everything from microbes to interstellar galaxies have liberated us; we return to the freedoms of wellness and intellect because of them.
Yet remarkably, in 2025, we see an orchestrated political attack on science in general, and on climate science specifically. To solidify power and keep a worried population from their appropriate role of making informed decisions, the current administration in Washington wants to keep you in the dark by cutting funding, disparaging scientists, and concealing critical data. They want to deny the accelerating crisis of global climate change as well as appropriate solutions. Critical climate science programs have been shuttered; for example, the Trump Administration has dismissed all contributors to the sixth National Climate Assessment, the U.S. government’s flagship study on climate change; massive budget cuts to climate research at NOAA, NASA, the EPA, and DOD will result in huge impacts to infrastructure and lost lives; climate change data and information scrubbed from federal agency websites, including the White House, DOT, and State Department evokes dangerous parallels with totalitarian regimes of the past and present. Anti-science rhetoric is anti-democratic because the outcome of science is a public good that allows the largest number of people in the country to make informed decisions about their future.
Federal support for science through our taxes is money well spent, as it upholds not only our health and well-being, but it drives innovation, jobs, new enterprises, and keeps the nation competitive in the world marketplace. Study after study shows that the return on investment is profound with one study showing every dollar spent on research returns at least $5 to the economy. Today, the U.S. government spends just 0.7% of the nation’s GDP on research and development, far lower than the 1.9% spent during the 1960s space race. Science is the foundation of a well-functioning democracy to enlighten “We the People” and ensure a more just, healthy, and equitable nation while addressing the threats of a warming climate and the urgency required to enact solutions.
Congress writes the laws and controls the power of the purse. Contrary to the current administration’s specious claims, the Executive branch cannot overrule the directives of Congress. There is a reason they are the first branch of government whose powers are enumerated in the Constitution; they are the body of government closest to the people. We must tell our elected officials that we believe in science and its vital role in our lives. We must tell them that we know the source of our freedom. It’s the truth. Planetary scientist Carl Sagan prophetically proclaimed, “The values of science and the values of democracy are concordant, in many cases indistinguishable.” Without science, we all become either prisoners or slaves.
Before retiring James Burchfield served as Dean of the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation at the University of Montana. Paul Lachapelle is Professor in the Department of Political Science, Montana State University-Bozeman. Both authors speak for themselves and do not represent their past/current employers.