Fans of facts take to streets
Thousands rally to oppose perceived attacks on science by Trump, GOP-led Congress
Tens of thousands of Bay Area marchers took to the streets Saturday in defense of science, opposing proposed reductions in research funding by the Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress.
“Make America smart again!” declared one of a sea of handmade signs at San Francisco’s March for Science rally, one of numerous events held in Bay Area and Central Coast cities, including San Jose, Santa
‘MAKE AMERICA SMART AGAIN’ Marches, rallies, teach-ins and science fairs were held in 600 cities on seven continents.
Cruz, Walnut Creek, Livermore, Berkeley, Pacifica and Hayward.
Marches, rallies, teachins and science fairs also were held in 600 other cities on seven continents, from a rainy Washington, D.C. to a frigid Antarctica.
An enthusiastic jumble of demonstrators — physicians, bird-watchers, chemists, teachers, students, engineers and others — hoisted each other onto their shoulders, pushed strollers and wheelchairs and chanted, “What do we want? Evidence-based science! When do we want it? After peer review!”
Their placards were pleading (“Save NIH” and “Science, not silence”), witty (“Half Lives Matter!” “You can’t comb over climate change” and “No Science, No Beer”) and bitter (“I can’t believe I have to protest for science”). They carried quotes from Albert Einstein and pictures of Carl Sagan, Rosalind Franklin and Marie Curie.
The Earth Day events opposed what many participants see as an assault by the GOP on budgets for medicine, environmental protection and battling climate change.
President Donald Trump has proposed reductions in federal studies of climate change and steep cuts for programs in the Department of Energy and National Institutes of Health. Unlike previous presidents, he has appointed neither a White House science adviser nor a panel of outside experts. Newly proposed restrictions on immigration and fears of a U.S. talent drain also loomed large at the events.
Nobel Prize winning physical chemist William Moerner spoke at the 10,000-strong San Jose rally, noting in his speech and in an interview afterward the contributions science has made to humanity, in areas such as energy, health and technology.
“It would be terrible to turn our backs on this advance by cutting science and trying to weaken it,” said Moerner, a Stanford professor and Pleasanton native.
Dr. Atul Butte, who leads UC San Francisco’s new Institute for Computational Health Sciences, surveyed San Francisco’s estimated crowd of 15,000 and said: “I’m thrilled to see so many people here. There are so many untapped opportunities in science.”
In Walnut Creek, U.S. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, DConcord, took the stage with state Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, to speak in support of science funding, the two nearby national laboratories — Lawrence Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore National Labs — and against any effort to curtail that funding.
“Today, on Earth Day, in the home of John Muir, close to the greatest public research organizations in the world, it’s wonderful to support science in the face of an administration and a majority party that doesn’t believe in science unless it fits their world view,” DeSaulnier said.
In Livermore, Dona Crawford, who retired a year ago from leading a 900person computation team at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, told the crowd: “We are here today because we believe our country’s leaders need to encourage and celebrate scientific curiosity.”
Born on a Reddit message board in January, modeled in part on January’s huge Women’s March, the march was aimed at mobilizing a sustained campaign to defend science in a polarized America.
Organization proved challenging. The scientific community, unaccustomed to protest, is a congregation of many different fields and allegiances. Some argued that activism doesn’t belong in science.
But they united in outrage over a shared threat. “We may differ on our methods, but we agree on our goals,” Adam Savage of the Discovery Channel’s “MythBusters” told the San Francisco crowd. “We all want to leave a better world for our children, our loved ones and our community. Science is the key to achieving that.”
In response, Matthew Cunningham, publisher of the conservative news website OC Daily, said he’s seen no evidence the Trump administration is anti-science. “I’m used to hearing preposterous, ridiculous things from progressives, but they’ve just become unhinged since Trump was elected,” Cunningham said. “All they’re saying is that their policy preferences are science-based and anyone who disagrees with them is anti-science.”
In San Jose, thousands of people set out from City Hall to the Plaza de Cesar Chavez at 11:15 a.m., enthusiastically chanting “stand up for science,” with many hoisting signs bearing messages such as “Data Not Dogma, Science for All” and — with a picture of an otter — “Science is Otterly Pawesome.”
“I’m here for my granddaughter and all the other children in the world,” said Mary Fisher, 69, of Cupertino, a retired regional manager at Crate & Barrel. “My granddaughter has severe asthma. It absolutely terrifies me that we will go backward in a world where we were just inching forward.”
In San Francisco, a boisterous rally at Justin Herman Plaza and march up Market Street ended up with a celebratory science fair, featuring young people such as 16-year-old Katie Mishra, of Menlo Park, who touted the importance of science education. “If you just go after what you want, you can achieve anything in science,” she said. “It is the crazy ideas that change the world.”
At a Walnut Creek rally attended by 1,500 people, Claudia Polsky, director of the UC Berkeley law school’s environmental law clinic, told the crowd, “Facts do not speak for themselves. They need an advocate.”
In Santa Cruz, 4,000 people marched, including one person holding a sign saying “The Empirical Strikes Back.” Many participants wore lab coats, goggles and “mad scientist” outfits. Standing out in his inflatable T. Rex costume was Stanford University Ph.D. student Danny Ibarra, a paleoclimatologist and geochemist.
In Livermore, about 300 to 400 people gathered at Livermore High School.
Rep. Eric Swalwell, DPleasanton, drew loud applause when he said: “Science, as we know from those who work at our national labs, is our national defense. Believing in science should not have anything to do with what political party you believe in.”
By the time the one-mile Livermore march started, the number of participants had swelled to about 500. One young woman carried a Smokey Bear sign with the message, “Only You Can Resist Fascist Liars.”
Science teacher Wayne Thompson wore a lab coat and an elephant hat at the march. Thompson, who teaches science at C.T. English Middle School in Los Gatos, said teenagers are too impressionable for there to be a formal opposition to science in the United States.
“This is unprecedented across the United States: people standing up for critical thinking and reasoning,” Thompson said.
Trump, who has proposed cutting the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget by 30 percent and the National Institutes of Health’s budget by 20 percent, issued a statement on Earth Day saying that “economic growth enhances environmental protection.” Americans, Trump said, were grateful for the “Godgiven gifts” of “abundant natural resources and aweinspiring beauty.”
Lauren Hernandez, 38, attended the Livermore march with her 16-monthold son, Maddox Cosman — who wore a lab coat costume reaching his ankles. She summed up the hope of many Bay Area marchers.
“I hope people continue to act after all of this, and I hope it’s not just an event,” Hernandez said. “I hope it’s the start of something.” Staff writer Aaron Davis and Santa Cruz Sentinel reporter Michael Todd contributed to this report. Contact Lisa M. Krieger at 408-859-5306, Yasemin Saplakoglu at 408 920-5781, Ethan Baron at 408-9205011 and Tatiana Sanchez at 408-920-5836.