Science Under Siege

1. The Dual Crises and the Antiscience Obstruction

So, we find ourselves facing not just a one-two punch of pandemics and the climate crisis, but a one-two-three punch, with that third punch, antiscience, obstructing the needed response from governments and civil society.

Unprecedented threats. The world faces catastrophic losses from pandemics and irreparable damage from climate change, both gaining strength and posing an unprecedented threat to humanity. These dual challenges are compounded by a common underlying issue: politically and ideologically motivated opposition to science from powerful special interests. This organized, well-funded antiscience campaign makes it nearly impossible to combat these crises and affects many other aspects of daily life.

Antiscience as a deadly force. This third punch, antiscience, has emerged as its own deadly force, hindering global leaders from taking urgent action. Carl Sagan decades ago warned of a future where the populace couldn't differentiate between "what feels good and what’s true," a premonition now realized. In the United States alone, antiscientific rhetoric and policies caused hundreds of thousands of preventable COVID-19 deaths by discouraging vaccination and resistance to public health measures.

Interwoven crises. Climate change and pandemics are inextricably linked, with climate change driving the increasing frequency of pandemics alongside urbanization, poverty, and human migrations. Efforts to address the climate crisis are stymied by antiscience forces blocking the transition from fossil fuels, leading to worse heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods, and superstorms. The rejection of science also targets the physical safety and careers of scientists committed to preventing these global threats.

2. Plutocrats Fuel the Antiscience Machine

Most relevant to our story are the abhorrent practices of a group of what we’ll call malevolent plutocrats who promote a vigorous antiscience agenda.

Wealth and power misused. A small minority of high-net-worth individuals, or plutocrats, wield immense power, historically for both good and bad. While some, like Michael Bloomberg and Bill Gates, have supported major health and climate initiatives, a group of "malevolent plutocrats" actively promotes a vigorous antiscience agenda. These individuals, often fossil-fuel barons or tech billionaires, weaponize their wealth and platforms to attack mainstream science and scientists.

Key malevolent actors:

• Koch brothers: Fund libertarian think tanks (e.g., Heartland Institute, Competitive Enterprise Institute) to create doubt about climate science and thwart clean energy. They also undermined COVID-19 public health measures.
• Elon Musk: Uses his wealth and Twitter (now X) to spread disinformation, transitioning from a science-driven entrepreneur to a promoter of far-right extremism and antiscience.
• Rupert Murdoch: Wields his international media empire (e.g., Fox News, Wall Street Journal) as a weapon against science, promoting climate denial and COVID-19 misinformation.
• Texas oil billionaires (e.g., Tim Dunn, Dan and Farris Wilks): Finance far-right PACs like Texans for Vaccine Choice, linking antivaccine activism to a broader "health freedom" agenda.

Dark money and influence. These plutocrats operate through a complex web of political action committees, lobbying organizations, and conservative institutions, often relying on "dark money" channels like Donors Trust to hide their contributions. Their motivations range from halting government oversight of the fossil-fuel industry to promoting an anti-regulation ideology that extends to public health measures and vaccines. This coordinated effort targets scientists, subjecting them to threats, harassment, and demands for their dismissal.

3. Petrostates Weaponize Disinformation Globally

America’s foreign enemies have learned that disinformation and propaganda are convenient shortcuts to destabilizing our democracy and democratic republics across the world.

Authoritarian antiscience. Petrostates, nations heavily reliant on fossil fuels, often lean towards authoritarianism and use antiscience as a tool for political control and destabilization. This historical legacy, seen in Soviet Russia's persecution of scientists, continues today with nations like Russia and Saudi Arabia actively undermining Western science and democracy. Their economic dependence on fossil fuels drives a strong motivation to block climate action.

Russia's global assault:

• Historical precedent: Stalin's persecution of scientists (e.g., Nikolai Vavilov) and promotion of pseudoscience (e.g., Trofim Lysenko).
• Cyberwarfare: Manipulated social media in the 2016 US election to elect Donald Trump, aiming to facilitate a half-trillion-dollar oil deal with ExxonMobil.
• Climate interference: Played a role in "Climategate" to undermine the 2009 Copenhagen climate summit and continues to use bots and trolls to inflame climate debate globally.
• COVID disinformation: Promoted false rumors about COVID-19 origins and discredited Western vaccines in favor of Sputnik V, leading to high mortality rates within Russia itself.

The American petrostate. The US government, particularly under Republican leadership, has at times mirrored petrostate behaviors, codifying fossil-fuel industry agendas and promoting climate denial. Project 2025, a Republican plan, proposes dismantling climate policy, slashing science agency budgets, and replacing career scientists with political appointees. This partisan embrace of antiscience, extending to COVID-19 vaccine disparagement, has led to hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths and threatens America's scientific infrastructure and global leadership.

4. "Pros" Legitimize Antiscience with False Authority

The pros often have a big platform, appearing as expert talking heads on Fox News or other conservative media . . . or major podcasts.

Credentialed disinformers. The "pros" are credentialed individuals, often with doctoral degrees or academic appointments, who generate tangible antiscience content. They are financially incentivized by polluters and plutocrats to attack mainstream science, appearing on major platforms to promote contrarian views. In climate science, they are industry shills, while in biomedicine, they push unproven alternative medicines or supplements.

Climate denial pros:

• S. Fred Singer: A Cold War physicist who, after leaving academia, launched a corporate-funded project to undermine science on ozone depletion, tobacco, and climate change, promoting the idea that warming would be beneficial.
• Steven Milloy: A self-proclaimed "junkman" who, despite lacking scientific credentials, is presented as an environmental science expert on Fox News, promoting climate denial and attacking scientists whose work threatens his industry clients.
• Marc Morano: A former political smear tactician who runs ClimateDepot.com, a website tied to fossil fuel-funded groups, producing a steady stream of untruthful claims about climate science and scientists.
• Bjorn Lomborg: The "skeptical environmentalist" who downplays the seriousness of climate change and the need for action, often misrepresenting data and promoting the virtues of fossil fuels in leading news outlets.

Health-freedom empire pros: This group includes professional antivaccine activists and science deniers who monetize the internet by selling unproven cures and nutritional supplements. They leverage reduced FDA oversight (thanks to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994) to promote products like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19, despite overwhelming evidence of their ineffectiveness and potential harm. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent example, has used his platform to spread vaccine-autism misinformation and other conspiracy theories, leading to his appointment as HHS secretary in the second Trump administration.

5. Propagandists Amplify Lies and Conspiracy Theories

For the propagandists, a key feature of the antiscience playbook is its reliance on conspiracy theories or conspiracy-filled rhetoric.

Online amplification. Propagandists are online trolls, bot armies, and fake experts who collaborate with plutocrats and petrostates to spread misinformation, primarily through podcasts and "antisocial media" platforms like Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter). They work synergistically with "pros" to take seemingly authoritative statements and make them go viral, often targeting individuals with low critical-thinking abilities.

Key propagandist figures:

• Elon Musk: Acts as both a plutocrat and a propagandist, using his platform to promote far-right extremism and antiscience, reinstating banned accounts and amplifying misinformation.
• Alex Jones: Through InfoWars, promotes antiscience views on climate and COVID, engaging in frequent attacks against scientists and spreading conspiracy theories.
• Joe Rogan: A highly influential podcaster who has pivoted to promoting climate denial and COVID antiscience, often inviting controversial figures to spread misinformation.
• Jordan Peterson: An emeritus psychology professor who, despite lacking scientific credentials in climate or biomedicine, promotes antiscience disinformation, aligning with Project 2025.

Conspiracy theories as weapons: Propagandists rely heavily on conspiracy theories to feed narratives of climate or pandemic denial and inaction. Common themes include:

• New World Order (NWO): Powerful actors fabricating crises to establish a socialist global order.
• Technological manipulation: Claims about "space lasers," HAARP, "chemtrails," and "cloud seeding" causing environmental disasters or controlling populations.
• Agenda 2030 and The Great Reset: UN initiatives for sustainable development are reframed as totalitarian plots to limit individual freedoms and impose "climate lockdowns."
• Fifteen-minute cities: Urban planning concepts are twisted into schemes to trap people in their homes.

Divide and conquer tactics. Propagandists also employ "divide and conquer" strategies, creating rifts among climate advocates by promoting "doomism" – the idea that it's too late to act – to foster disengagement. This tactic, often amplified by bots and trolls, undermines collective urgency and agency, ultimately benefiting polluters and petrostates by discouraging climate action.

6. The Press Undermines Trust Through Bias and False Balance

False equivalences or “bothsidesism,” now recognized as their own form of media bias, have become pervasive in our mainstream media.

Right-wing echo chamber. The right-wing media, led by Rupert Murdoch's empire (Fox News, Wall Street Journal), has built an echo chamber of climate denialism and COVID-19 misinformation. Fox News, in particular, has been instrumental in spreading falsehoods, politicizing public health, and attacking scientists like Anthony Fauci and Peter Hotez. Their business model prioritizes conspiratorial content that keeps viewers engaged, often aligning with Russian propaganda.

Mainstream media's failures: Even mainstream outlets like the New York Times and Washington Post have contributed to misinformation through "false equivalences" and "performative neutrality." This involves giving equal prominence to mainstream science and antiscience propaganda, or emphasizing individual responsibility over systemic change. Examples include:

• Climate crisis: Publishing columns by climate contrarians (e.g., Bret Stephens, Bjorn Lomborg) and promoting "doomism" that discourages action.
• COVID-19: Elevating discredited lab-leak theories, de-emphasizing natural origins, and blaming scientists for public distrust, even after overwhelming scientific evidence emerged.

Systemic challenges. The media environment faces systemic issues that exacerbate misinformation:

• Diminished science journalism: Layoffs of science journalists mean less nuanced coverage and more susceptibility to "bothsidesism" or the "single-study fallacy."
• Client journalism: The rise of "client journalism" and "access journalism" prioritizes appeasing wealthy and powerful interests over objective reporting, as seen with Jeff Bezos's Washington Post.
• Invisibility of scientists: A dearth of working scientists willing and able to engage publicly, partly due to intimidation and lack of institutional support, leaves a vacuum filled by misinformation.

Erosion of the Fourth Estate. The corporatization of media and the erosion of journalistic standards threaten the press's role as a critical check on government power. This collapse of the "fourth estate" means that objective reporting is often sacrificed for political or ideological agendas, making it harder for the public to discern truth from falsehood.

7. Scientists Face Personal Attacks and Systemic Threats

One reason many scientists choose not to engage with the public is the fear that they will find themselves at the center of ideologically and politically motivated attacks aimed at discrediting and intimidating them.

The Serengeti Strategy. Scientists who engage in public discourse, particularly on contentious issues like climate change and public health, often become targets of ideologically and politically motivated attacks. This "Serengeti Strategy" aims to pick off vulnerable scientists and make an example of them, dissuading others from speaking out. Both Michael Mann and Peter Hotez have experienced death threats, harassment, and demands for their dismissal.

Congressional witch hunts. Attacks on scientists have escalated to congressional levels, reminiscent of the McCarthy era. Republican politicians, often funded by fossil-fuel interests, have subjected scientists like Anthony Fauci and Peter Hotez to frivolous hearings, subpoenas for personal emails, and accusations of fraud or conspiracy. These actions are designed to humiliate, discredit, and silence experts whose findings challenge political agendas.

Legal battles and institutional failures. While legal victories, like Michael Mann's defamation lawsuit against right-wing writers, can offer some recourse, scientists often lack institutional support. Universities and government agencies, fearing political backlash, may fail to defend their researchers, leaving them to bear significant personal and financial costs. This creates a chilling effect, discouraging early-career scientists from public engagement.

Antisemitism and stochastic terrorism. The attacks often coalesce with darker elements of humanity, including antisemitism. Scientists of Jewish descent, like Mann and Hotez, are accused of being part of secret cabals or profiting from crises, linking modern antiscience to centuries-old antisemitic tropes. This "stochastic terrorism" incites hatred and can lead to physical harm, further endangering scientists and undermining the scientific enterprise.

8. The Interwoven Nature of Climate and Pandemic Denial

The right wing’s instantaneous flip from ‘it’s a hoax’ to ‘let millions die in service to the “market”’ is the same script they play with climate change, to a tee.

Shared playbook. The tactics used to deny climate change have been remarkably adapted and accelerated to deny the severity of pandemics and the efficacy of public health measures. The core script involves:

• Dismissiveness: Downplaying the threat (e.g., COVID-19 as "just the flu," climate change as "natural variability").
• Denial of solutions: Rejecting the efficacy of interventions (e.g., vaccines, masks, renewable energy).
• Blame the messenger: Attacking and discrediting scientists.

Economic motivations. For fossil-fuel interests, climate denial directly protects profits by thwarting regulation. Similarly, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the push against lockdowns and public health measures was motivated by a desire to keep economies open and fossil fuels flowing. This economic imperative often overrides public health concerns, leading to policies that prioritize market interests over human lives.

Conspiracy convergence. The same individuals and groups often promote both climate and pandemic denial, weaving them into overarching conspiracy theories. For example, the "Great Reset" and "Agenda 2030" are framed as interconnected plots by "global elites" to impose "climate lockdowns" and control populations, using both climate action and pandemic responses as pretexts. This convergence amplifies misinformation and creates a unified front against science-based policy.

9. Combating Disinformation Requires Multi-faceted Action

We must treat the rising tide of scientific disinformation with the same urgency as the rise of Nazi Germany and global fascism nearly a century ago or Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and Middle East conflict today.

Urgent mobilization. The antiscience superstorm demands an urgent, concerted worldwide effort. Disinformation, identified as a top global threat, requires a multi-pronged approach, akin to a "stop disinformation" campaign. This involves:

• Constructive communication: Increasing the visibility of scientists, providing them with communication tools, and proactively explaining scientific processes and values to the public.
• Protecting scientists: Establishing legal defense funds, federal protections, and institutional support for scientists facing politically motivated attacks.
• Defeating disinformation: Actively rebutting false claims, blocking trolls and bots, and promoting authoritative counter-narratives.

Empowering scientists. The scientific community must shift its incentive structure to reward public engagement, integrating science communication into doctoral training. Institutions like the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine must take a proactive stance in defending scientists and promoting scientific freedom. This will cultivate a new cadre of public-facing scientists who can effectively counter misinformation.

Strategic counter-disinformation. Effective strategies against disinformation include:

• Inoculation: Warning audiences about misinformation tactics before exposure.
• Repetition: Reinforcing accurate information through consistent messaging.
• Sticky truths: Crafting compelling, memorable counter-narratives using analogies, metaphors, and emotional appeals.
• Source targeting: Highlighting the manipulative tactics of propagandists rather than just refuting individual falsehoods.

10. Reclaiming Democratic Values is Essential for Science

We must, in short, take back our politics. We need to restore the rightful role of science in our political and societal discourse if we are to maintain the capacity to address the major challenges we face, including the climate crisis and worsening pandemics.

Political obstacles. The fundamental obstacles to addressing climate change and pandemics are political, not physical, biological, or technological. The current alignment of one major US political party (the Republican Party) with antiscience, driven by ideological and policy implications, makes nonpartisanship impossible. Overcoming this requires active political engagement and voting out politicians who promote antiscience.

Executive and judicial branches. The executive branch's ability to implement science-based policies (e.g., EPA regulations, FDA/CDC protocols) is crucial. However, the current Trump administration's Project 2025 aims to dismantle these agencies and replace career scientists with political appointees, severely hampering the government's capacity to respond to crises. The Supreme Court, packed by plutocrat-funded groups, has further undermined this by overturning precedents like the Chevron Deference Doctrine, effectively replacing scientific expertise with politically appointed judicial oversight.

Restoring balance. The Supreme Court's actions pose an existential threat to American democracy and its ability to govern based on scientific expertise. Restoring balance to the Court, potentially through expanding the number of justices and eliminating the filibuster, is critical. This requires sustained political effort, including massive voter turnout in midterm and presidential elections to elect leaders committed to science, reason, and democratic governance.

11. A Battle Plan for a Livable Planet

We fight for a livable planet, for us, our children, and future generations. Because it’s worth fighting for.

Four-part battle plan: To combat the Tolkienesque threat of antiscience, a comprehensive battle plan is necessary, focusing on disincentivizing bad actors, reducing plutocratic influence, reforming the media, and empowering individuals. This fight is for Earth itself, against forces that threaten human civilization.

1. Penalize the Pros, Propagandists, and Petrostates:

• Cyberwarfare: Treat weapons of mass disinformation (e.g., AI-generated content, troll farms) as weapons of mass destruction.
• International action: Implement international agreements and protocols for cyberwarfare, with severe sanctions against state actors like Russia and Saudi Arabia who violate them.
• Global cooperation: Other democratic nations must band together to rein in bad state actors, including the US under its current antiscience-embracing administration.

2. Pressure the Plutocrats:

• Campaign finance reform: Enact strict limits on "dark money" and overturn decisions like Citizens United to reduce plutocratic influence on politics.
• Media regulation: Reinstate and update policies like the Fairness Doctrine to limit partisan propaganda from plutocrat-owned media.
• Collective action: Use collective voices, organize, speak out, and pressure elected representatives to support pro-science policies.

3. Mend the Media:

• Support responsible journalism: Subscribe to news outlets that provide objective, fact-based reporting and unsubscribe from those that promote misinformation.
• Legal recourse: Utilize defamation lawsuits against partisan media outlets that spread lies, as demonstrated by successful cases against Alex Jones and Fox News.
• Public engagement: Scientists and science communicators must proactively write op-eds, participate in interviews, and collaborate with journalists to ensure accurate science communication.

4. Be the Change:

• Empower scientists: Scientists must organize and pressure academic institutions to defend academic freedom and support researchers under attack.
• Advocate for science education: Support comprehensive science standards in schools and encourage youth activism.
• Vote and engage: Participate in elections at all levels, communicate with legislators, and continuously engage others in conversations about the importance of science and democratic values.

Last updated: February 11, 2026