Marching is just the start for scientists
Science groups are fighting to preserve research integrity
Hundreds of scientists and advocates in Washington and 514 locations around the world will rally Saturday to support the scientific community and showcase the role science plays in everyday life.
While the March for Science — which is being held on Earth Day — is one visible way to show solidarity, scientific and environmental organizations say it’s just the first step in protecting research and its integrity.
Many in the scientific community have been alarmed in the past few months by a lack of respect for the scientific process under the Trump administration, Ken Kimmell, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, said. Proposed budget cuts that specifically target research on key processes, such as climate change, that affect people globally are particularly troubling, he said.
“The other tremendous irony here is the people who are denying climate change often focus, in a misleading way, on the alleged imperfections of the scientific modeling that’s trying to predict the future impacts of climate change. Well, if those models are imperfect, which they are, the best solution is to continue to fund them to make progress,” Kimmell said.
The march comes one month after President Trump, who has called global warming a hoax, signed an executive order aimed at rolling back Obama-era climate change and environmental policies. Trump said his priority was America’s energy independence and job creation.
Scientific research has been historically underfunded, said Rush Holt, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. While he sees Trump’s proposed cuts as shortsighted, the larger concern for Holt is people have been turning away for years from a respect for evidence and the role science plays in society.
“This didn’t begin with the election of Donald Trump, and it’s not just about the policies of this administration,” Holt said. He said most people do not even consider what needs to be done to protect scientific integrity.
In order to get the best results, scientists need to be able to conduct their work freely and independently, Holt said. A diversity of opinions and backgrounds also is crucial to determine the questions science needs to ask.
“In the immigration debate, science never enters in, and yet it really is an issue of science,” he said. “If you don’t have free flow of people and free flow of ideas, science doesn’t work.”
In addition to fighting for opportunities for new research, many groups are working to protect existing science. Last month, the Center for Biological Diversity along with two others filed Freedom of Information Act requests in order to protect hundreds of these databases related to energy and climate data, sealevel rise and endangered species.