By Dr. Robert Thorson The Trump administration’s proposed slashing of federal support for science is sending scientists to the streets in protest. This is shocking because scientists are generally averse to political street theater, believing instead that policy decisions should be based on measured evidence and calculated logic. But, on April 22 – Earth Day […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson Last week, my next-door neighbor asked me whether his house foundation would collapse. His worry came from The Courant’s recent four-part editorial series, including “Pyrrhotite Kills American Dream: Homes Are In Slow-Motion Collapse Because Of Sneaky Mineral.” The editorials told of hundreds, if not thousands, of homeowners in northeastern Connecticut whose […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson Drain the swamp. This is one of Donald Trump’s favorite expressions. Earlier this year, on Feb. 28, he issued an executive order to drain the metaphorical swamp of federal regulations that protect the actual swamps of our national landscapes. I agree that the regulatory swamps (so-called) need draining. I disagree that […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson Let’s make America great again by rethinking a new federalism with respect to disaster relief. Let’s start by aiding the afflicted states right away, whether for hurricanes in Texas and in Florida, wildfires in California or drought in the Dakotas. Let’s end by exempting the self-inflicted components of those disasters from […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson Hallelujah! The third branch of the federal government, the appointed judicial branch, is finally getting serious about climate science. No longer can the elected executive branch and the elected legislative branches cave in to popular pressure to avoid the inconvenient truth that climate change adaptations will be hugely expensive. My hope […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson A picture is worth a thousand words. Seldom do we hear that a picture can also obscure a thousand truths. Consider this case from the Jan. 26 Science, our nation’s most authoritative source for science news. A woman stands at her kitchen sink setting her tap water on fire. The great […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson Should we add the chronic, erratic, intrusive sound of a gun range to Pachaug State Forest, Connecticut’s largest – the sonic booms and gas explosions spraying lead, a proven neurotoxin, into our environment? Why go to the quietest place to make the most noise? On March 20, the state Department of […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson College students are protesting again – sounding off about race, immigration, gender, sexual harassment and gun violence. Their cacophony triggers my memories of youthful protest during my college years (1969-1973) when the main issues were an illegal war, nuclear proliferation, a corrupt presidency and environmental degradation. The voices of both generations […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson Two nations are waging a war of words against one another. The tiny nation includes the Neets’aii Gwich’in Athabascan people of Arctic Village, Alaska, a community inaccessible by road or boat. The superpower nation is the United States, centered within the urban beltways of Washington, D.C. My sympathies are with the […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson Two media buzzwords, “diversity” and “globalization,” are often conflated. This muddles our thinking about important issues such as nationalism, immigration, global trade, war and human rights. “History is moving relentlessly toward unity,” writes Yuval Noah Harari in “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind,” an international best-seller on the reading lists of […]