Climate Scientists Are Leaving The U.S. To “Make Our Planet Great Again” (HBO)

After the United States pulled out of the Paris Agreement in 2017, French president Emmanuel Macron made the world’s climate scientists an offer to work in France. That offer came in the form of a grant with a cheeky name — “Make Our Planet Great Again.”

The grant has since been awarded to dozens of scientists — many of them, based in the United States. Ben Sanderson is one of those grant recipients. He had been living and working in the U.S. for nearly a decade when the 2016 election results caught him by surprise.

“I think it's a strange time for climate science in the U.S.,” Sanderson told VICE News. “People are a little bit wary of proposing research which would be deemed to be political.”

And so, Sanderson, along with his wife and young son, packed up their lives and moved to Toulouse, France. There, Sanderson will work at a French research institute for the next five years.

Meanwhile, some researchers still working in the U.S. are worried that a Trump-era brain drain could stunt America’s role in the field. As climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe told VICE News, “...we could end up losing a large number of key people that would really help to advance the research.”

This segment originally aired December 5, 2018 on VICE News Tonight on HBO.

Follow VICE News here:

[VICENews]

“I think it's a strange time for climate science in the U.S., ” Sanderson told VICE News. “People are a little bit wary of proposing research which would be deemed to be political.”

[werunguns]

This is one of the greatest disappointments in the Republican Party. Scientific data should be respected by all parties.

[Lon]

Hard to have a conversation about climate change with a man who thinks you can "clean coal"

[carlcarlington]

Daily reminder that Trump tells you climate change isn't real while building flood walls for his golf courses.

[stlegionnaire]

The potential brain drain of any country prominent industrialised country should be a reason to worry, but the US especially that is already confronted with hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, tsunamis and now climate change should really start to worry people living there...

[brandochinchilla]

Reminds me of german scientists fleeing Germany in ww2

[leetommerson]

I wish these people well, but loosing them really isn't a great tragedy to the US.
Not because they don't matter, just because climate science is international.
I'm sure they'll be able to do fine work in France.

[ARepublicIfYouCanKeepIt]

So sad to see such a consequence of climate denial. The denial of the science of climate change and lack of political leadership imperils the United States and the entire planet.

Climate change mitigation, discovering and bringing to market solutions to a global problem, should be this generation's "moon shot". In addition to jobs creation, the status of our nation would be elevated yet again.

We led the world in agriculture. We led the world in industrialization. We led the world in medicine. We led the world in technology. American achievements defeated tyranny, brought nuclear energy to the world, put men on the moon, cured diseases, and accelerated the speed of discovery in so many areas.

An administration bent on the denial of the proof, predictions and warnings of not only this country's best and brightest, but the international scientific community as well, guarantees that the United States will cede leadership in the most important issue of our time. This will cost us all more dearly than can be imagined.

[erzan]

🇪🇺 Come to Europe, we are the birth of modern Science and Intellectualism.

[denuncimesmo]

they must abandon the United States, this country chose to listen to politicians, chose to listen to religious, let them without scientists leave them without their mahroy resource, pétróleo? no, scientists, experts, go without fear work with those who support the development of science, work with those who accept and reconfirm that we have a gigantic problem, that is climate change, work with people who do not care only for profit, work with French, work with Chinese, with Norwegians, but forget the United States, we need our listeners to be encouraged.
I wish all luck to those who abandon this country, which is sick of negationism.

[jorgehernandez]

We are not weary! We know climate change is real politicians are not acting on our behalf and are protecting big oil!

[TigerBlackTigerBlackTigerBlack]

The U.S. is going under like the Titanic.

[nicholasmatuza]

What app is he using in the first 20 seconds there???

[DanielPennybaker]

People blame the USA, but all of our factories left and they’re in Southeast Asia.

[jakewhoskate]

Climate taxes should not be on consumers but big corporations that are responsible for the issue. Its something like 100 specific companies...

[PsudoeGaming]

its amazing how long we known about global warming and we still dont have any proper answers for it yet...

[muhammadasadjunaid]

protest right now going on in france actually present how hard it would be to shift from fossil fuel to renewables, the problem is that rich people wont feel the hardship they must equally be feeling the hard change for our climate

[jackmen]

Oh yeah.... clean

Let me ask my uncle’s lungs if there is such a thing as clean coal

[ayo]

Two Scientist leave the US and
Vice is like: SCIENTISTS ARE LEAVING THE US!!!

[perisemiotics]

If Trump were shown this story he would think of neither climate change nor science - "they're immigrants, right? I told you!"