Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention tonight may not have been rated as highly as President Barack Obama’s address the night before, but there was at least one line that got the attention of the geekerati: “I believe in science.”
The applause line came in the context of climate change policy, one of the issues that distinguishes Clinton from her GOP foe, Donald Trump. He didn’t address the subject in his own acceptance speech, but he’s definitely in the climate skeptic camp.
“Obama’s talking about all of this with the global warming and … a lot of it’s a hoax,” he said last December. “It’s a hoax. I mean, it’s a money-making industry, OK? It’s a hoax, a lot of it.”
In contrast, Clinton embraced the mainstream view that greenhouse-gas emissions are having an effect on climate patterns, and those effects could get dramatically worse unless policymakers take action.
“I believe in science,” she said, chuckling as she let that sink in with the crowd. “I believe climate change is real, and that we can save our planet while creating millions of good-paying, clean-energy jobs.”
Clinton also touched upon the subjects of technology and innovation. Those two words didn’t come up in Trump’s speech – except in the context of technology transfer to Iran and U.S. military technology.
In Clinton’s speech, the words popped up when she talked about a 100-day objective to “pass the biggest investment in new, good-paying jobs since World War II: jobs in manufacturing, clean energy, technology and innovation, small business and infrastructure.”
Just the fact that Clinton gave a shout-out to science set off a storm of tweets. Here’s a selection:
"I believe in science!" And with that, Hillary Clinton clinched my vote for her for President of the United States.
— Phil Plait (@BadAstronomer) July 29, 2016
I love everything about that "I believe in science" line except how Neil deGrasse Tyson will inevitably ruin it
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) July 29, 2016
My favorite Hillary moment pic.twitter.com/nQ9qT6ZzFI
— Sask (@saskdraws) July 29, 2016
I believe in science! pic.twitter.com/2xfaX75CT5
— Sarah Hörst (@PlanetDr) July 29, 2016
.@StephenAtHome adds that when Hillary says she believes in science, it must be true — because she was wearing a lab coat. #DemsInPhilly
— Eric Nelson (@jonericnelson) July 29, 2016
me tonight when Hillary said she believed in science and climate change pic.twitter.com/oKrh7f7qTb
— Jess Cooney (@coonayyee) July 29, 2016
Amazing that we’re in a time where it’s a point of contrast for a candidate to say “I believe in science” #DemsInPhilly
— Arianna Huffington (@ariannahuff) July 29, 2016
Trump Campaign respond to Hillary Clinton's embrace of Science: pic.twitter.com/tvXTJU8F9w
— Sea Tea (@Tierno158) July 29, 2016
A US presidential candidate had to say she believes in science because it's the 1800s, right? #crazy2016election
— Cindy (@txflygirl) July 29, 2016
Folks. The word “believe” can mean “put my trust in”. What she said is fine. Don’t miss the bigger picture here, OK?
— Phil Plait (@BadAstronomer) July 29, 2016
You don't have to "believe in science" for it to be true, but you do have to believe the method actually works to run a modern country.
— Kyle Hill (@Sci_Phile) July 29, 2016
