“People need to be paying attention and taking into account the contours of how these candidates approach scientific development.”

What happens on November 3 will determine the course of U.S. science over the next four years and beyond. In her piece for Elemental’s new series about what’s at stake this election, journalist Kate Morgan says that before voters cast their ballots, they must know the difference between health policy — which has always been political — and health science, which has become politicized when it ought not to be.

One expert told Morgan that it’s important “for voters to understand candidates’ relationship to objective science, which is the only thing that will bring an end to the pandemic.”

“People need to be paying attention and taking into account the contours of how these candidates approach scientific development. We hear sound bites that say, ‘I trust science!’ but there’s so much more to that.”

Read more from Morgan here:

How the Election Will Impact the Covid-19 Pandemic

One branch of science that will be impacted by the election is the country’s policy on climate change, as environmental correspondent Matt McGrath writes in a smart summary of each candidate’s major climate points in the BBC today…