Everything We Know About the Scientists' March on Washington
An American government that ignores science to pursue ideological agendas endangers the world.
Hundreds of thousands of people flocked to Washington D.C. as part of January’s Women’s March, and the success of that even spurred activists to plan another massive protest against President Donald Trump’s destructive, retrograde policies in the works. This time, it’s our nation’s scientists who are leading the charge as part of the March for Science.
The march, fittingly, is scheduled to take place on Earth Day, April 22. The main event will, like the Women’s March, kick off in Washington D.C. at 10 a.m., but the official website lists 394 planned satellite marches around the world. Speakers and the exact route for the march haven’t been revealed yet.
“The mischaracterization of science as a partisan issue, which has given policymakers permission to reject overwhelming evidence, is a critical and urgent matter,” the march’s website states. “It is time for people who support scientific research and evidence-based policies to take a public stand and be counted.”
The march was announced on January 23 after germinating from an idea on Reddit’s /r/politics board, but in just a couple days it amassed a massive groundswell of support. Although the initial proceedings looks a little ramshackle (the first website was a basic Blogger template), the protest has since evolved into what looks to be a pretty substantial movement.
In Trump’s first weeks as president, he enacted or announced some truly upsetting anti-science platforms and decrees. He has a plan to kill the Climate Action Plan, he wants anti-science politicians to review EPA research, and he’s trying to silence government agencies, stopping them from stating scientific facts (not everyone is heeding his wishes, though — shoutout to our National Parks). There’s plenty of reason for rational Americans to come out in force against Trump and his retrograde environmental policies.
“There are certain things that we accept as facts with no alternatives,” a passage on an early version of the march’s website read. “The Earth is becoming warmer due to human action. The diversity of life arose by evolution. Politicians who devalue expertise risk making decisions that do not reflect reality and must be held accountable.”
“An American government that ignores science to pursue ideological agendas endangers the world,” the organizers state.
“Anyone who believes in empirical science” is invited to attend the march, according to the event’s organizers.
Additional details will be come available as the date, April 22, draws near.
