Are Environmental Activists Anti-Science? Green Groups Push to Eliminate Key European Science Post

A few years ago, members of the European Commission (the executive body of the European Union) had a pretty great idea—they created the post of Chief Scientific Officer to advise the European Commission’s president, helping to ensure that policy decisions and legislation were based on sound scientific evidence. But now, thanks to pressure from environmental activist groups, the position of Chief Scientific Officer has been scrapped.

It’s hard to see why employing a decorated scientist to advise policymakers on technical scientific matters would be controversial. Yet, Dr. Ann Glover, a molecular biologist from the University of Aberdeen who assumed the post in 2012, drew the ire of environmental activists for her support for easing Europe’s ban on genetically modified foods (GMOs).

The science is clear—GMOs do not pose a threat to human health. Instead, they can help farmers earn greater yields and produce crops resistant to droughts and disease.  Unfortunately, Europe has been closed to GMO crops thanks to a successful misinformation campaign waged by various green groups.

Without a Chief Scientific Advisor, the European community loses a powerful voice championing sound scientific policy in the face of environmentalists’ alarmist junk science claims.