, Columnist
Why Conservatives Have Always Distrusted Science
From the Scopes trial to the "arrogant" atomic elite to climate change.
The elite created it, and stole it.
Photographer: National Archive/NewsmakersThis article is for subscribers only.
The outrage that met President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate-change agreement overlooks how perfectly his thinking aligns with conservative ideology.
As the New York Times pointed out last week, Trump actually seemed to have learned something from the mistakes of President George W. Bush. When Bush yanked the U.S. from the Kyoto Protocols shortly after taking office in 2001, top advisers, including Secretary of State Colin Powell, were caught completely off guard. This didn’t happen with Trump. His decision fulfilled a campaign promise, and it came after debate inside the White House.