I think the biggest problem with science literacy on the left is, when there's a scientific idea that is applied by neoliberals in a western chauvinist, colonialist way, leftists tend to dismiss the science completely.

My biggest recent example of this is discussion of overpopulation. Yes ecosystems have carrying capacities. Yes we live in an ecosystem. But somehow because the way overpopulation is dealt with by neoliberal NGOs like the Gates Foundation (as in going to Africa and giving out birth control and abortions or whatever), it's a fake thing that doesn't exist.