Comedian Rick Mercer Goes to Bat for Science and the Environment

Rosetta landed on comet67p last week, the first time any man-made object landed on cosmic ice. It made me aware that there is a such a thing as a Jupiter family of comets, which were originally from the Kuiper belt. But collisions with other bodies knocked it out of the region. Eventually, Jupiter, that beast of a planet, which does indeed have its own little world around it, captured the comet and set it in a new orbit.

Rosetta’s landing even caught the attention of Canadian Rick Mercer, who made it the topic of his weekly rant. It was comforting to see this comic genius going to bat for science.

It was not the first time he’s acted in that manner. When the Harper government cut funding to the Experimental Lakes Area, he had this to say:

Postscript: In 2017 the Trudeau government created the “Office of the Chief Science Advisor” to offset moves made by the previous government which Mercer criticized.

The Chief Science Advisor’s key functions:

• “Provide advice on the development and implementation of guidelines to ensure that government science is fully available to the public and that federal scientists are able to speak freely about their work
• Provide advice on creating and implementing processes to ensure that scientific analyses are considered when the Government makes decisions
• Assess and recommend ways to improve the existing science advisory function within the federal government
• Assess and recommend ways for the Government to better support quality scientific research within the federal system”