From farmers in rural Missouri to my neighbors in Missouri’s 2nd District, this is what happens when you vote against your own self-interests. /1 washingtonpost.com/climate-enviro…
There are computer models that can help farmers navigate and plan for a changing climate. Except no one can access the program because the researcher who ran the program quit when the FDA moved to Kansas City. /2 
Farmers are complaining that the staff upheaval, a result of Trump’s decision to move the FDA, has made it harder to access information they need. /3
Missouri’s farmers last year was greatly impacted by flooding. There was a researcher at the FDA who started a data tool that would help farmers predict months in advance the impact of heavy rainfall on crop prices or planted fields. He quit when the FDA moved. /4
If rural Missouri votes Republican because of economic anxiety, I’ve got news for them. Your anxiety is about to get really, really bad. At one of the key agriculture agencies, 8 in 10 scientists have left. /5
A good portion of Missouri’s 2nd district live close to interstates - I-70 in St. Charles county, I-270 in South St. Louis county, I-64 in the central corridor. A scientist at the EPA warning that current standards for soot and smog (ozone) do not protect public health quit. /6
Why did he quit? Because the EPA undercut his study that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. 1/5th of the top science positions are vacant.
A senior fellow at the Cato Institute said in an interview that scientists should remember that they don’t set policy. I’d argue that policy makers need to remember they can’t ignore scientist.
