Recently, it was reported that our government ordered NASA to decommission and de-orbit a scientific satellite. That on its face sounds like a mundane issue – one that must occur from time to time as our space infrastructure ages, but this is something different. The satellite in question is an Orbiting Carbon Observatory which measures the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that accumulates in the atmosphere world-wide. It concurrently provides a measure of photosynthesis that relates to plant growth on a global scale. Information from this satellite has proven to be crucial for scientists and farmers alike.

This country is in the midst of an ideological purge of anything related to climate change. Government web sites have been scrubbed, scientists have been terminated, funding has been withheld, and now it appears that we will reach into the heavens to pull down the instruments that inform our world of the rate and extent of our changing climate. It seems, as Jack Nickolson so famously shouted from the fictional witness stand, that we can’t handle the truth.

Although I’ve opined about the phenomenon before, this planned action, along with many others that precede it, falls squarely within the definition of Proactive Ignorance – the intentional avoidance of knowledge. Our government appears to be going to great lengths, at considerable cost, to take its place among the simian triplets to See No, Hear No, Speak No – Climate Change.

The scientific arguments over the existence of climate change have been decided; it exists and is gathering momentum. To ignore this reality is more than folly – the lack of information puts people and their homeland at risk and ill-prepared to take precautionary measures.

The intentional removal of information sources that help to define the challenges we face is the exact opposite of what a government should do and how it should serve its people. Ignorance serves no one.

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Kevin Deeny