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Mr. Trump has proposed budget cuts for all scientific research in government. Examples include cuts near 20 percent in the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, 18 percent in the National Institutes of Health and 17 percent in the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration’s research programs and satellite systems used to monitor weather and climate change. In particular, he has put a gag order on the Environmental Protection Agency to remove all pages from their website concerning climate change.

My colleagues in the sciences work very hard to find the truths in nature. Scientific works are run through a strict peer-review process before any publication. It doesn’t end there because the scientific community continues to argue and criticize ideas to make sure that claims are solidly supported by evidence. This sets a high bar for obtaining the truth.

Mr. Trump and his administration is dragging us back to the Dark Ages, and we will lose our nation’s leadership in Science and Technology, as well as putting our planet in peril.

Global warming has the overwhelming consensus of environmental scientists and world-wide data point to the fact that man-made climate change is occurring. We need to mitigate its effects. I, for one, do not want to wait for Mr. Trump’s Mar–a–Lago compound to become inundated with six feet of water before he realizes that something is wrong.

If you are concerned, call your representatives in the Senate and House and urge them to not vote for any bill that cuts scientific research.

PHILIP A. DEUTCHMAN

Sandpoint

Retired Physics Professor

University of Idaho