title:  WATCH: Bill Nye Predicts ‘Big Trouble’ After Trump Silences Government Scientists
text: Donald Trump s war on science drew a response from  The Science Guy  on Saturday morning.Trump and his team of minions are trying to stop scientists from doing research and sharing the results with the public.From the Environmental Protection Agency to the Department of Energy, Trump is systematically dismantling critical research and testing that helps citizens and businesses make decisions and keeps us safe.Trump is halting water and air quality tests along with climate change research, all of which could mean the difference between life and death for millions of Americans as Trump moves to approve oil drilling and pipelines and doubles down on coal instead of clean energy sources that will cut pollution and slow the effects of climate change.Rather than accept real facts, Trump and his team are touting what they call  alternative facts.  Trump and conservatives are living in a delusional world where facts don t matter because they directly contradict their own worldview.During a discussion with Joy Reid, Nye explained why Trump s rejection of facts is going to take years to reverse and that it will spell  big trouble  for our nation and the world. Well, any time you re burning fossil fuels, you authorize more pipelines, you re headed for trouble in the big picture. But in the bigger picture is this thing, you know, this word we love,  cognitive dissonance,  this phrase. You have a worldview that disagrees with what you observe. So you might expect, if you were as open-minded as a scientist, as a scientifically-literate voter or taxpayer, you might expect that data would change your mind   but that s not how people are.People on either side, the other side and this side, you double down when you find conflict, it s called the  Backfire Effect,  it backfires, and you get more entrenched in your worldview. For example, if somebody believes in astrology, it takes them about two years to get over it. You have to show them over and over there s no such thing as astrology, it doesn t really work, and then they let go. But everybody s expectation that you ll let go in a week is not going to be met.So our problem, everybody, is this doubling down, this backfire effect. So we have to work, I think, diligently in the science community to fight back. Of course there are the facts, we start with those. But there s this human nature thing on both sides to fight back. We have our bubble over here, they have their bubble over there. Here s the video via VidMe:Shutting down our scientists puts Americans in danger. We can no longer keep our environment safe if they can not do their jobs and tell us the information we need to know. Increased mining and drilling will end up poisoning our lands and water supply and increase the effects of climate change. Trump s denial of basic facts is going to get Americans killed and that blood will be on his hands and he should be held accountable for it.Featured image via screenshot